RISE OF THE HOUSE OF BLACK
by itihas0
Summary: What happens when you are betrayed by someone who is supposed to love you unconditionally. Harry is abandoned by James after Voldemort's attack .His twin brother is the BWL .He is adopted by Arcturus Black as his heir and takes on the name' Perseus Aeries ere will be fighting,family,heartbreak and above all ;quest for power.Powerful smart intelligent but lonely harry
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

 **AUTHORS INTODUCTION- READ IT**

 **The Potters have two sons** **  
** **Harry is 4 year old when dark lord strikes** **  
** **His younger brother (Charles ) is 15 months old, their grandmother Dorea Potter nee Black sacrifices herself instead of Lily and gives the similar protection to both the potters as given to Harry in canon** **  
** **Charles becomes the boy who lived while Lily enters a coma due to magical backlash**

 **Harry Potter is declared a squib and is abandoned by James Potter; is left at the doorsteps of the Dursleys who then leave him at an orphanage**

 **And yes James would have a pretty good reason to do so, it won't be like those fics where James and lily starts neglecting harry in favor of the BWL Like In 'HARRY POTTER AND THE VEELA' and 'DEPRIEVED', I just can't understand the logic behind it, specially Lily, coz according to every source in canon , she is a very caring woman, and how can a mother do something like that to her child, so that idea doesn't sit well by me**

 **He is latter adopted by Arcturus Black into the house of black and becomes the heir to the most noble and ancient house of Black , he will change his name to Perseus as is the tradition of black family to name children after stars or constellations ( no one really knows that he is Harry Potter, save a few)**

 **He is an intelligent person who devotes his life to everything magic has to offer.** **He will travel to distant lands in his quest to learn more about his special powers .But he also realizes not everything in life has to do with magic and devotes his life to bettering himself.**

 **His purpose to fulfill the promise he made to Arcturus black and to show James Potter that he is anything but a squib.**

 **Charles is the boy-who-lived and raised in seclusion , away from the chaos and is unaware of the whole Boy-Who-Lived business as Lily wanted to give him a normal childhood. Dumbledore is initially furious with James for abandoning Harry but forgives him after he learns of the reason behind it.**

 **Harry is independent, helpful, will not only dabble in both dark and light magic but will also excel at both. And will be aware of his heritage as Lord black.**

 **In this story Perseus (Harry ) will be a nullifier and a Parseltongue and I will divulge more about this ability in the coming chapters**

"kdhlhdsdhsdk"- **Conversation**

'gdgwkdfgksdhs' – **Thoughts**

* * *

An imposing, snakelike figure walked through the village of Godric's Hollow, people got out of his way even though they did not know who he was but still there was a speacial force around him. He walked around with an energy which transpired to everyone that he was powerful and dangerous. As he moved past the last Muggle house, he could feel the magic shrouding the house up ahead.

While he continued on he mused to himself he was lucky to have his spies so deeply entrenched in the Order and the circles of the two candidates of the prophecy.

Lord Voldemort was finally going to eliminate the last obstacle in his path to achieve his aim; to achieve what his mentor once did, to conquer Europe. His thoughts then wandered to his early days, time spent learning different aspects of magic ; he had travelled to north America first where he had learnt how to channel magic without a focus , there he had also learnt about some obscure potions , native Americans have mastered the art of potion making to a level way beyond what the wizards in Europe knew . although he was unable to convince any shaman to teach him their magic , much to his regret; shamans are after all the masters of soul magic , potions , rituals and even elemental magic and divination .

He had then travelled to Egypt and studied the obscure art of ancient warding and runes , along with ancient rituals . He had performed and even created rituals that had given him insane amount of strength.

He wanted to make his presence known in the world, to teach everyone that you do not have to rely on ones heritage to achieve greatness. He wished to conquer Europe but he knew that was no easy task as no one had been able to achieve it in 2 centureis. Grindlewald came close but he too was defeated.

But there were certain parts of Europe that were considered unconquerable. The nations that were under the protection of some extremely powerful wizards . First was England, which was protected by none other than Dumbledore . Then there was Velos , a only-wizard nation, but the commander in chief of the army of Velos was none other than Aristrodemos. Then came the city of Moria , a city under the impenetrable wards , even older than that of Hogwarts . But that was not all, the nation of Oceania was under the aegis of Arcturus Black the third himself , who was the steward of Oceania. And last of them was Olympia , the nation which had a mysteries force as its guardian , for the last 2 centuries no force has been able to put even a dent in the defense of Olympia . It was in Olympia only where Grindlewad was defeated for the first time, by whom no one knows, but Gridlewald did not attack Olympia again.

But he still knew he would not be able to match Dumbledore, or Arcturus black or Aristrodemos . they were too powerful plus they were unparalleled in their respective fields of magic . It was then that someone told him a rumour; that all these legendary wizards , Dumbledore, Arcturus Black , Aristrodemos, Grindlewald and a wizard Busirius were trained by one man .

Now Dumbledore, Arcturus Black, Aristrodemos , and Grindlewald were all accounted for, but there was nothing about the whereabouts of Busirius . he knew none of these wizards would teach him anything and it was then that he finally decided to seek out the one who turned these wizards in legends ; Aristaeus The Great.

The dark lord could not help but think of the meeting he had with a vampire in a small bar in Romania and what he had told him about Aristaeus .

Very little was known about ARISTAEUS , all he knew at that time was he was an extremely powerful wizard born somewhere in late 18th century. There were rumors that Aristaeus was from the line of, the legendary ancient Greek wizard, the titan Erebus. By the mid 18th century Aristaeus had conquered every single nation of the wizarding Europe and Asia singlehandedly, at that time the magical community of Europe and Asia was under the thumb of 21 dark lords. ARISTAEUS defeated them all and was declared as the strongest wizard of all time, some even compared him to the ancient wizards , while some considered him to be the second coming of his own ancestor, Erebus himself. Some said it was an act of revenge as one of the dark lords had killed his father.

They say he then fell in love with the princess of Velos , Alythia was her name.

It was then after some years that his brother in law's eldest son, Aristrodemos, a prince of Velos , approached Aristaeus and requested him to take him as his apprentice . But Aristaeus refused to do so stating that if he were to take Aristrodemos as his apprentice, he would then pass on his knowledge to his descendants , who could be corrupted by the power. And it was then, that Aristrodemos did the unthinkable and took the vow of celibacy along with a wow that he would never sit on the throne of Velos .

Impressed by his dedication, Aristaeus took his first apprentice and Aristrodemos went to become an extremely powerful wizard. And under his protection , the city of Velos has stood proud for the last century.

ARISTAEUS 's only child, his daughter then fell in love with Arcturus black the second, the heir of the house of black, it was discrete affair . The black heir then eloped with her which enraged Aristaeus to no end. In his rage he went to fight the black heir. Dozens of Blacks from all over the globe flew back to England to defend their house.

The Blacks were able to raise a massive army which consisted of wizards , werewolves , vampires , trolls, giants and even Dementors . About a hundred Blacks and the massive army faced the enraged Aristaeus on the battlefield . But it was all futile, Aristaeus almost ended the Black line that day , hundreds were slain . The soil was tainted red and that land, rendered barren by the destructive magic of Aristaeus is to this date known as the red field and that battle was known as the battle of TARTRUS. But at the end, his wife was able to convince him to forgive the Blacks and spare them and he married his daughter to Arcturus Black.

In the early nineteenth century Aristaeus took another apprentice , Gellert Grindlewald and Busirius , but also took Arcturus black the third as his student at the request of his daughter, who was Arcturus's grandmother . But then he later trained Albus Dumbledore and he successfully defeated Grindlewald . Arcturus Black went on to become the ruler of Ocenia after he defeated its king , and BUSIRIUS , well he just vanished from the face of this earth.

It was then that he himself approached Aristaeus , and ever the slytherin was able to convince Aristaeus to take him as his apprentice. After his education was complete, Aristaeus had proudly proclaimed that he was the only student of his who could match him in a duel.

He then decided to walk the path that his mentor as ventured, to conquer Europe, starting with England. He knew if one wished to wage war against other nations, its necessary to have an army ; but he was no king or ruler of a nation or a lord or even a commander of an army. Even Grindlewald had amassed a massive army .

He knew he would have to do the same. But he did not wished to recruit rogue criminals , he did not wish to fight an open war like Grindlewald , he decided to wage a phsycologyical war too. He knew he could not attack England as that would turn it into an international altercation and ICW will give aid to England. He then devised a strategy ; of devide and rule, the purebloods against the rest of England and that is why he activated his followers from Hogwarts and they became the first generation of his army , most of whom either held high positions in the ministry and had contacts or were either lord or heirs of most prominent houses, the Malfoys, Grabbe, Goyle, Lestrange, Rookwood, Parkinsons, he wanted to try and recruit the Blacks too but with Arcturus black as the lord Black, it was quite risky. But in the end he was able to recruit Regulus black and Belettrix Lestrange ne black who became his most faithful and fearful follower.

He still remember after the mysterious disappearance of Regulus Black, the lord Black had threatened him but did not fight him out of respect he held for their mentor and a fool's notion that fighting a fellow student of Aristaeus would be an insult to him.

He had then sent his lackey to do the job, a vampire named Alistair , upon whose arrival all of his vampire supporters had abandoned him and refused to ever follow him again; something that bewilders him still . Voldermort had fought vampires in the past, even pretty old vampires but he was able to defeat them pretty easily, thanks to his mastery of fiendfire .

In his fight against Alistair he employed the same method, he knew spells would be futile against a foe who was so fast he could not be seen and so he again used fiendfire completely expecting the vampire to turn to ashes in moments. But to his surprise the fiendfire did not kill him , it caused his skin to burn but it healed at an alarming rate and as such in the end the vampire stood as if the attack did not effect him at all . Voldemort then had to utilize everything he had but finally he was able to corner him and got a lucky shot and truck the vampire with the killing curse and the vampire went down.

But just as he had ordered his followers to get rid of the body the vampire opened his eyes and apparated away; something vampires are not capable of . It was then that Voldemort realized that this vampire must have been really old and powerful for him to not only survive fiendfire but a killing curse as well something that no vampire has ever been able to do.

'And to think that the Black lord has such a strong entity as a servant ' Voldermort thought as he realized the it was good move on his part to come clean with the Black lord about Regulus and to prove him that he had no hand in his disappearance and also a promise that he would not ever try to integrate a Black in his army .

After that it was going quite smooth for the dark lord, the wizards of united isles trembled at the mere mention of his name and were so afraid of him that the dare not even utter his name. The ministry , apart from some of the aurors were quite incompetent and the only other resistance he faced was from the order of phoenix led by Dumbledore .

But then one of his follower, the young halfblood potion master had informed him about a prophecy , a prophecy about his downfall. And so he had formulated a plan and had set a deep cover spy in the order.

And his plan bore fruit, his spy , Peter Pettigrew had revealed to him the location of the Potters. Trust, The Dark Lord smirked as he neared the cottage, which was no longer under the Fidelius curse, trust would only condone betrayal and treachery.

With a swish of his wand, the door was blast opened. What fools were the Potters, trusting the mudblood and muggle loving Albus Dumbledore and leaving their offspring alone in a house guarded by only a weak Fidelius, no other ward for protection.

As he neared the front door of the house, he saw movement in one of the windows to his right and knew that the children were not alone and also that he was noticed. He blasted the front door to smithereens and heard the rushed footsteps up the stairs.

'Thank you for locating my target', he thought to himself as he made his way up the stairs and entered what was probably the nursery, and who he came face to face with gave him a momentary halt, it was none other than Dorea Potter nee Black and he immediately had to shield himself from the volley of attacks coming from the woman standing in front of him

As she paused he said, "it's not necessary for you to die woman, stand aside and I'll let you live"

And there was truth in his words ,He knew that while the potter matriarch could not match him, she was no slouch with a wand and his loyal spy in the Department of Mysteries has informed him that Dorea Potter might be a high level Unspeakable and he won't be able to kill the brats as long as she creates a hindrance.

Plus , she carried the blood of his mentor, all the direct descendant of Arcturus black the second did, he had always avoided hurting a Black as he knew that was bound to attract the ire of his mentor.

The dark lord then unleashed his aura and disarmed the woman in front of him .The woman quickly realized that she stood no chance at defeating the Dark Lord without a wand. She fell down on her knees and pleaded with him. "Not them, please take me instead. They are just babies, what threat could they possibly be to you?" The Dark Lord visibly held back for a moment as he felt magic swirling around one of the children. While the woman kept muttering "Not Harry, not Charles, take me".

He raised his wand, rushed in anticipation of the unknown magic the boy was outputting and quickly killed the potter matriarch hoping that this act would not earn him an enemy in the form of Arcturus or worse, Aristaeus .

"Foolish woman, you should have stepped aside."

He said and approached the crib and looked down at the small boy, 'so this is the child of the prophecy', he thought. Although he was immediately distracted by the child's older brother who sat on the crib next to his brother, his emerald green eyes, the same color as that of his favorite curse, looked at him with defiance, the boy's magic felt different .

"If the boy already had an aura that i can feel, he will become a powerful child indeed. It is best that I take care of him now', he thought. 'Though if he wasn't a potter I might have considered letting one of my servants raise him as an ally.'

He suddenly sensing the arrival of more people raised his wand, just as lily potter entered the nursery, and for the second time in that room uttered the words to end the boy's life.

"AVADA KEDAVRA".

Voldemort gave a cruel smile when he saw his killing curse fly towards the boys, but then the unimaginable happened, the soul stopped midway , and hovered mid-air for a moment before it came back at the dark lord with immense speed and before he knew what was happening, his soul was brutally ripped from his body causing a loud explosion.. The next minute a dark mist floated out of the room, leaving only the robes and wand of the Dark Lord, together with two boys crying in their cribs for the attention of their mother, while the said mother laid unconscious due to the magical backlash of the explosion and leaving the younger potter with a lightning-bolt-shaped cut on his forehead.

But this was the moment for which the dark lord had created his soul containers which would ensure his return. Minutes after the Dark Lord's departure, three pops could be heard. James Potter was a mess, his eyes filled with tears as he sprinted up to the half destroyed room, only to find an unconscious lily potter on the floor along with an unconscious harry.

James quickly went over to Harry and lily and was relieved when he found pulse in both. Albus Dumbledore entered the damaged nursery and sighed when James nodded to him that Harry and lily were unscathed but unconscious. He was soon accompanied by Sirius and Remus.

Dumbledore looked at Sirius and said, "what are you doing out in the open Sirius, you are Longbottom's secret keeper, by roaming like this you put their life in jeopardy"

"Yes, I am aware of that" said the Black heir, "I will return to a safe location soon". Everyone then noticed a large gash on the forehead of the youngest child, Charles Potter.

James frantically shouted, "Albus, what is this?"

The old man gave a sad smile, "My boy, the prophecy has been fulfilled. Charles has defeated the dark lord, for now"

James Potter then knelt down to his wife's unconscious body on the floor ,pointed his wand at her and muttered 'enervate', nothing happened . He looked at Dumbledore for support who muttered the same charm at lily, but to no avail, dread filled James's mind. Dumbledore then cast some more spells at her which made no sense to the James but he then looked at James with sadness in his eyes,

" I am sorry James , it looks like the explosion put lily in some kind of a coma"

This news broke everyone's heart, when Dumbledore moved towards harry potter while others wept at the fate of their friend and started to make arrangements to move lily to St. mungo's, only to stop dead in track after hearing Albus say, "I am afraid that's not the end of your misfortune , James".

Everyone looked over to where Dumbledore was waiving his wand over young harry, bile rose up in James's throat, "is he in coma too..?" he asked in a broken voice.

"No, my boy, it's even worse", said Dumbledore, finally putting back his wand in his robe seemingly finished with whatever he was doing, he then looked at James again and asked

"Tell me James, has young harry ever done any accidental magic till now?".

Fearing where this was going, James said

"No, professor but he is just 4, he-"

Dumbledore cut him short , " I know , my boy that is why I did some more checkups, though you must have poppy check young harry thoroughly ".

James was in turmoil of emotions, he felt pain, sadness, relief, worry and lost, all at once.  
Getting impatient and not realizing what Dumbledore was referring to, Sirius asked, "what are you trying to say Albus?".

Dumbledore looked over to Sirius, not knowing how to say it out loud "I am afraid young harry is a squib ", he said, those words stunned Sirius as he thought 'my godson is a squib' as more tears welled up in his eyes.

* * *

 **2 YEARS LATER**

James potter had just put his son, Charles to bed. It was damn difficult to take care of Charles without Lily. He had recently moved to the ancestral manor of the Potters. After Dumbledore has set up wards to the best of his capability.

As he poured himself a glass of firewhisky, his mind started wandering, he was finding it difficult to comprehend everything that has happened since that fateful Halloween. First Peter had betrayed them and lead Voldemort to his children, where Voldemort had killed his mother and then tried to kill Charles but failed, as a result of which Charles was now revered as a hero, people were calling him 'the boy who lived'. His wife was in a coma, and healers were baffled with the case and have finally given up hope.

But it would seem that it was not the end of their misfortune as not only 2 weeks after that Halloween night , Sirius his best mate, the secret keeper of the Longbotoms had betrayed them, leading 4 death eaters to their house , who tortured Alice and Frank to insanity. Fortunately young Neville came out of that ordeal scot-free and was in the custody of his grandmother. Now both Frank and Alice along with his dear Lily were patients in Janus Thickey _Ward_ , a _long-term_ residence _ward_ at St. Mungo's .

But then came another disturbing news, when poppy had confirmed Dumbledore's suspicion and told him that his eldest son was indeed a squib now but assured him that harry wasn't born a squib as she herself was there when harry was born; as harry was born in Hogwarts ,and it seemed that it was a result of Voldemort's attack that somehow turned harry into a squib.

And then he had to make the most difficult decision of his life when he dropped off harry at the Dursleys , Lily's only sister , along with a letter to petunia detailing what has transpired to her sister and her family. He figured that ,being a squib, it would be beneficial for harry to be raised in the muggle world only , instead of being raised in the magical world only to be shunned by everyone, for he knew that was how squibs were treated in the magical world. He only hoped that harry would have a happy childhood and a good life ahead of him.

He then felt guilty, he should have checked upon Harry every once in a while, but between taking care of Charles and everything that has happened since, he couldn't. And then there was also the chance that some death eater might follow his trail and discover harry, so he didn't take the risk.

James was about to retire to his room when the floo network of the manor flared up showing the face of his favorite professor. He looked at the grandfather clock which showed the time to be half past midnight  
"what could be the reason behind this late night visit professor McGonagall?" James asked.

"It's good news James, very good news indeed, he did it, Severus did it, finally" she said with barely controlled happiness.

"And what exactly has _Snivel- "James faltered at his professor's piercing look, "I mean what has Snape done professor?"_

 _"James , he found it, he finally found a way to wake Lily up from her coma" she said_

James couldn't believe what he was listening, thinking it to be too good to be true , he looked at his professor again , tears welled up in his eyes, tears of happiness

 _," really Minerva ? "._

 _"Yes James, I myself am going to St. mungo's , lily will wake up in a few minutes, make it quick "she said before her face left the fireplace and the green flames died down._

 _"Tizzy", James called out and immediately there was a pop and his house elf was there looking at him frantically. "Yes, master James, you is calling tizzy?"._

 _"Yes tizzy, I am going out for some time, take care of Charles , I will be back soon" he said to the elf as he made his way to the fireplace and took a pinch of floo powder and threw it in the fireplace, causing the flames to turn green_

 _"Is everything be alright master James" the elf asked in apparent worry_

"Everything is fine tizzy and I am sure soon everything will be more than just fine" said James as he stepped inside the flames and said

 _" St. Mungo's " ._

* * *

 _Everyone was standing in the room in St mungo's where snape has administered the cure on lily, there was Snape, professor McGonagall , headmaster Dumbledore , and Remus too joined them soon, and then there were two healers just in case._

 _Happiness was evident on everyone's face, after tirelessly searching for a way to cure lily and the Longbottoms, the efforts have borne fruit_  
 _Severus was the most determined one to find a cure for lily, James thought he felt some sort of guilt maybe because he was one of voldemort's follower ._

 _Snape has already administered the cure on lily and was now talking to a healer in hushed tone._

 _"Are you sure, you did it right "said James in apparent worry in his voice_

 _Before Snape could respond, his question was answered when a low moan escaped lily and he saw slight flutter of her eyes._

 _This was the first movement lily has shown in the last two years_  
 _In an instant he was by her side and said," wake up Lily flower, wake up"._

 _As if responding to his plea, lily did open her eyes and looked at James and said in a very weak voice,_

 _"James"_

 _"Yes lily dear, how are you "he said._

" What happened James, where am I , the last thing I remember was .." suddenly she stopped , her tired eyes went wide in worry " James my children , my babies, what happened, Voldemort was there, the explosion, Charles , HARRY , what happened, where are they" she was going wild with worry.

"Everyone is fine lily, voldermort is gone, and Charles is absolutely fine" he said trying to soothe her.

 _"Oh ok, good "she said and closed her eyes in relief but suddenly snapped them open, "and Harry, you didn't say anything about Harry, what of my baby boy"._

 _James didn't know how to answer, how to tell her that he had sent their eldest son to be raised by her sister._

 _"James why are you not saying anything, where is Harry "she said trying to get up even though her fragile body protested," I need my son, I need my Harry, James"._

 _Seeing the situation Snape motioned for one of the healer to bring a potion_

 _"He is fine too, Lily flower" James said, although with a bit of uncertainty," you can meet them both in the morning, but for now you must rest"_  
 _and the nearby healer gave Lily a sleeping draught_

 _Next morning James and Remus went to the Dursley's house to retrieve harry only to discover the worst, apparently the Dursleys had wanted nothing to do with the 'freak' and sent him to an orphanage._

 _'his son in an orphanage ' james thought and they quickly left for the said orphanage only to find from the orphanage officials that there was indeed a child named 'harry' living at the orphanage but he suddenly went missing some weeks ago._

 _His worst fears were coming true, he looked at Remus only to find same worry on his face, then Lily's words rang in his head , again and again ' I need my harry'._

 _And it was then that the nationwide search for harry potter started, but they couldn't approach the ministry to aid them as some sinister parties might try to take advantage of the situation. Every member of the order tried their best, but could not find harry potter, every tracking charm failed to yield result even Albus Dumbledore was unsuccessful and it was then professor McGonagall brought forth information that would forever put a sad mark on the Potters, as apparently the name 'Harry Potter' has vanished from the magical register of Hogwarts, which meant only one thing._

 _'Harry Potter was dead'_

In a way, she was right, Harry Potter was indeed dead, for he wasn't Harry Potter anymore, he was  
'Perseus Aeries Black' the heir to the most noble and ancient house of Black. And right now he was across the Atlantic ocean, fighting a battle against death.

* * *

 **So this is the first chapter of my story, I have written a fanfic after a very long time, positive reviews are welcomed and so is constructive criticism** **  
** **I do apologize if there is some spelling error in the story as I don't have a beta reader for now. I already have a written story and so if the response is good I will continue with it.**

 **Anyway read it, review it and wait for the next chapter**

 **Thank you**

 **And if there is any query, please ask away**

 **Laters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: training , wands , more training**

 **Author's note-**

 **Ohk here is the next chapter, as promised and just to clear up a few things.**

 **First of all Perseus was born on 20 january 1978.  
This chapter will be third person pov too, next chapter will be Perseus's pov.**

 **This chapter will tell us more about the nullifiers and it will also show the powers and capabilities of Perseus till now.**

 **There has been been some speculation that james's parents were charlus potter and dorea black who appear on the black family tree and are said to have had one son. However , with new information revealed on pottermore , this is stated to not be the case, with james's parents named as fleamont and euphemia potter.  
But for the sake of this story lets continue with the assumption that james's parents were charlus potter and dorea black.**

 **According to the black family tree Arcturus lived from 1901 – 1991**

" **conversation"  
'thought'  
** _gobbledegook_

* * *

 **5 years later**

 **Arcturus** black **,** a tall, thin man, that appeared to be in his 70's judging by his shoulder length silver hair, sat at the edge of what appeared to be a training arena, as he watched the combat training of his charge. His impassive face betrayed no emotion, but on the inside he was anxious as he watched his charge parry the attack of his martial arts mentor.

The rather cold weather was usually a good deterrent for anyone who wanted to spend their sunday mornings outside, but for Arcturus, the temperature didn't matter. What mattered to him was watching his adopted charge give it his all to win the fight. This looked to be shaping up to be one of those 'close ones' that were bad for his heart and health.

Said child was dressed in impeccable black pants and dragon hide leather armour and buckled boots as he fought and countered the coming onslaught with his sword ; a medium length xiphos . The boy was Perseus black, the most brilliant, determined and intelligent young individual he had ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Arcturus had adopted the boy not long before his sixth birthday when he finally found him after a long tireless search.

Neither of them liked to talk about how that came to pass. Arcturus was, after all, the favorite cousin of his grandmother, dorea potter nee black. He thought back to the days when he was searching for the boy.

.

- _ **flashback**_ —

 _When it came to his knowledge that the potters were attacked by the dark lord and his dear cousin dorea was killed by him, he was a wreck , and even he was astonished to hear that the young charles potter has defeated the dark lord, but there was no mention of the eldest potter child , the one that dorea was so fond of._

 _And it was then he found from his sources that the eldest potter child was a squib and was living with his mudblood relatives. He scoffed at the mere idea of him being a squib, especially if dorea's previous suspicion about him being a nullifier were anything to go by; it was more likely that the diagnosing spell didn't work on the boy._

 _And so he went to the mudblood's house to retrieve the child._

 _He arrived on privet drive, surrey with an almost silent pop, and made his way towards the house number 4 and knocked on the door, which was answered by skinny women with an extremely long neck._

" _Yes, how may I help you?" she asked.._

" _I am here to meet one harry potter "he replied._

" _You, you are one of those freaks" she said with disgust on her face ," you think you can just dump that brat on our doorstep and expect us to raise him, as if I would ever let that freak near us"._

" _Where is he", I asked as I brought forth my wand and immediately the look of disgust on her face was replaced by one of fear._

" _We didn't keep him, we sent him to an orphanage," she said, her voice breaking with fear._

" _Name? And where" I asked with barely controlled rage._

" _Wool's orphanage, in london" she replied._

 _I raised my wand at her eye level the memory charm on my lips._

" _I told you everything, don't hurt me" she pleaded._

" _I am not going to hurt you, but we can't have someone else finding about this meeting of ours, can we now" I said and before she could respond, 'obliviate 'I performed the memory charm and immediately apparated away to the location of the orphanage._

 _He was a block away from the orphanage when Arcturus saw him cornered by 5 boys in the next alley, but his eyes zeroed on the cornered boy, and he knew he had found the boy he was looking for._

 _It seemed as if the boys would attack him soon , and Arcturus raised his wand, ready to intervene only to find it unnecessary as the boy looked at the five boys who had cornered him, and raised his hand and opened his fist, immediately all the boys were blasted away and rendered unconscious ._

 _He was surprised to see such controlled magic and that too wandless at such young age, fools, to take this boy as a squib._

 ** _-Flashback ends—_**

Despite the tragic circumstances that lead to Perseus's stay at the orphanage, Arcturus had made it his mission in life to provide the boy with everything he needed, and make sure he was as happy as possible.

It would be a lie if someone were to say that Perseus was a difficult child, because it just wasn't true. The boy may have a twisted, witty and often sarcastic sense of humor that would show itself whenever the boy grew irritated, it was one of the things he grew to love about the boy – one of his unique quirks. It was a unique, amusing and yet humbling experience to have intellectual arguments with a boy he was trying his hardest to raise, but he'd be lying if he didn't say it was a pleasant one.

But there was a time when Arcturus had thought that he had lost Perseus when they had performed the blood adoption ritual

 ** _-Flashback—_**

The both stood inside the runic circle . Arcturus slashed his hand with a dagger and Perseus mirrored his action. They then shook hand and Perseus pulled out a vial and emptied it in his mouth . Alistair then started chanting and a soft glow emitted from Arcturus and a thread of magic flew from that glow and wrapped itself around Perseus and he too was engulfed in a soft bluish glow. And after a moment it dissipated .

Both Perseus and Arcturus looked at each other after the blow has dissipated and gave each other a smile .

'The ritual was a success' Arcturus thought 'now no one will be able to find harr-, no Perseus , no matter how hard they tried, because now he wasn't harry potter , he was Perseus aries black'

Just as Perseus was about to say something , his face morphed into one of pain and his eyes rolled back and he fell backwards.

Fortunately he was caught by alistair , who gently laid him on the floor and Arcturus knelt beside him, clearly worried .

"What happened ? Did the ritual fail ?" he asked to no one apparently .

"I don't think so my lord , the ritual was a success for sure , I can now feel myself tied to young master Perseus as I am tied to you and have been tied to the blacks for centuries . He is as much a black as you are." alistair replied .

"Then what went wrong" Arcturus asked in despair , his arms flaying .

"I am not in the position to answer it correctly my lord, but I know someone who does "

"Who" asked Arcturus

"He is a shaman, head of his tribe" alistair answered and that made sense to Arcturus. Shamans are the masters of blood magic and soul magic. Alistair continue to answer Arcturus's unanswered question.

"But he lives across the atlantic ocean , in north america"

"I will arrange a portkey " Arcturus said as he got up

"No need of that my lord, I will apparate us there , beside you won't be able to get a portkey to their location, their tribe lives in seclusion and away from the wizarding world and macusa and for good reason too ." alistair replied .

"Are you sure , wont you get tired by traveling this far" Arcturus asked. Alistair was one of the rarity among vampires who possessed some magical talent. One of alistair's gift was that he can teleport .

"Yes and I will have to feed immediately after arriving " alistair said while showing Arcturus a strange looking vial which was filled by some green potion.

Arcturus smiled , the potion was a masterwork of alistair , one vial would be equivalent to the amount of blood that will keep him or any other vampire on full strength for the next 6 moths .

Alistair got hold of Perseus's body and Arcturus put his hand on his shoulder and silently they vanished from the ritual room and appeared hundreds of miles away in a forest

Arcturus levitated Perseus's body and alistair drank the potion and color returned to his face , his eyes glowed with power once more . Arcturus looked around the forest they have appeared in, it was an umber-brown, ancient forest. It reeked of age. Its woody incense was from centuries of snapping branches crashing to the forest's floor and rotting silently. The composting, organic smell rose up in waves like a miasma. Every sprawling tree they passed under reminded him of a watchful guardian, a silent sentinel of the groves.

They decided to venture deeper into the tangled heart of this primeval forest. He hoped that it would reveal its dark secrets to them. The further they went, the more mystical and spellbinding it became. Huge roots spread-eagled the ground, twisting like the great backs of sea dinosaurs. The foliage became thick and lush, forming an arch of fairytale-green above their heads. Arthritic boughs, gnarled with age, dripped their bounty of nuts onto the path. Briars, brambles and berry trees flanked the trail, making it impenetrable on either side. Shuffling noises came from deep in the interior, deadened by the cunningly woven web of leaves. A pack of wolves crossed the winding trail in front of them at one point. They were probably up their night hunt and looked up to see them and were about to pound on them but a deep snarl from alistair was enough to scare them and they got the message:someone way above in the food chain has arrived in the forest.

They kept on walking and within hour of walking alistair stopped and he looked around , he then motion toward two trees which stood some 10 feet apart from each other and alistair beckoned him to follow . The moment they crossed the trees Arcturus knew they have traveled through a gateway similar to the entrance to platform 9 ¾. This side of the forest was even denser, it reminded him of the forbidden forest but Arcturus suddenly felt very unsettled . And his instincts were right as their journey was interrupted by the arrival of three young men who held a spear in their hand.

Alistair said something in a language he didn't understand but whatever alistair has asked for , it must have been declined for the three men shook their head signaling a 'negative'. Alistair then again said something which resulted in the three men to train their spears at them . But alistair acted quickly; it would appear as if the time for pleasantries has passed. Alistair's speed and strength astonished them for within a blink of their eye they found themselves on their back , on the ground and their spears on the ground beside them, broken . Arcturus then bound the three men with ropes and alistair again said something to them to which they complied this time and nodded their head.

They started walking and alistair and Arcturus followed them with Perseus's body floating beside them . Then alistair explained to Arcturus what had transpired.

"I asked them to meet their chief to which they refused, but now they have no choice but to take us to their settlement "

"I wonder alistair , if these shamans are this week that they were this easily defeated , how will they help Perseus " Arcturus asked

"No no, my lord , these men are just novices , they don't have much knowledge of magic let alone any mastery in the art they are known for. Shamans are very powerful otherwise , they can extinguish your soul much like the killing curse and that too with a blink of their eyes. They soon came across a clearing which was inhabited by about a three dozen huts and small bonfires here and there .

Soon the residents seemed to notice that three of their men were bound by two foreigners. They soon started gathering and said something, probably a threat but before the three captives could reply , Arcturus cast a silencing spell on them which enraged them further .

Some 6 people stepped forth, but instead of spears they held staffs of different kind and were about to attack when alistair growled , his eyes glowing unearthly shade of red , and this was enough to give them a pause . And suddenly they heard a loud command from behind the group; what was the command, Arcturus knew not.

Nuw the crowd parted way, making a clear path for an old man, older than perhaps even dumbledore . The said guy walked using his staff like a walking stick, which appeared to be made from complete white wood and had the figurine of a snake ato, it's eyes glowing green.

"Amazing , while I have grown from a boy to an old man , you alistair remain untouched by time " he said .

"Well that is one benefit of my kind" alistair said .

"So what brings you to my abode" the old man asked.

"I need your help jontrabolta " alistair said and then motioned towads Arcturus

"Meet my lordship , lord Arcturus black the third, ruler of oceania and the apprentice of lord aristaeus "

The old mans eyes widned at the last part of his introduction and he said

"A pleasure to meet you , lord black . And I am glad I arrived before my men got into a fight with you, an apprentice of lord Aristaeus would have definitely tore them into pieces "jontrabolta said.

Arcturus was not surprised that his mentor's name was revered even in this corner of the globe , but he replied

"I am not here to fight , on the contrary , I am here seeking your help " here he looked at Perseus's floating body and continued

"My grandson , I am unable to explain what happened to him, we did a blood adoption ritual ,after which he fainted but I have been reliably assured that the ritual was success "

Jontrabolta looked at the floating Perseus and noded his head , he raised his hand slightly and Perseus floated towards him . He put his hands on Perseus's temple and started muttering some chant and closed his eyes.

After a complete minute he opened them and looked at alistair ad Arcturus in fear and said

"I am baffled as to how someone who wasn't a shaman was able to perform such a complex and difficult soul magic and more so how one witch was able to perform such an ancient blood magic"

"I am afraid I don't follow you " Arcturus said

"This boy contains a foreign piece of soul within him. And some witch performed a very ancient blood magic , a sacrificial ritual to ensure his protection and that protection is what was keeping that soul at bay "Jontrabolta informed them

Boh Arcturus and alistair looked at each other and Arcturus said

"Must be voldmort's doing , an aftermath of that attack ."

To which alistair nodded and said

"And the protection, it must have been lady dorea's she did died that night, there is no bigger sacrifice that selflessly giving up on your own life" but here he faltered for a moment and then looked at Jontrabolta and said

"But you said was protecting him, what do you mean by that "

"Well as you said , you performed an adoption ritual , that kind of ritual remaps one's magical core, to say simply, that one's core is changed and to do that it has to restart . And for a moment one is completely devoid of magic . That moment was enough for the forieng soul to bypass the protection." seing the worried looks of Arcturus and alistair he continued

But the boy is fighting that soul , and he is doing a good job too"

"No you don't understand "Arcturus said frantically "that piece of soul is lord voldemort's , the most powerful and evil dark lord europe has seen in ages, another apprentice of master aristaeus and the one master aristaeus had proclaimed was his equal in dueling , how long do you think my grandson would be able to fight him off."

Now this worried the shaman greatly, not that the soul is of the strongest dark lord but that it was of another apprentice of lord Aristaeus

, one that he has declared could only be defeated by himself .

"I want you to save him , no matter what you have to do , I am calling in every debt you owe me , just help me , no matter the cost" alistair said

Hearing tha gravity of his tone the shaman looked startled and looked at Perseus and then said

"I will do it, right now your grandson and the foreign soul are fighting , now if it were any other wizard the soul would have taken over by now, but your grandson is a nullifier , very rare magical gift, that is greatly helping him in this battle . But we will have to help him soon, and also strengthen the protection that lady dorea has given him but I am uncertain as to how him being a nullifier will affect this ritual"

"It can be done" Arcturus asked

"Yes"he replied

"Just give me some time to prepare for the ritual. And you are in luck too, its shaman night today , we are at our peak, we will harness the power of night and moon to power the ritual."

With that he move towards the rest of his people, and started talking to some other old men and soon they started preparing for the ritual, rune were being engraved on the ground and some sort of oil was used to paint them. It took them nearly three hours to complete the preparation.

The seven old shamans, who the shaman has said were the oldest of his tribe and hence the strongest of all sat around Perseus's body in a circle. Jontrabolta stood inside the circle his hands on Perseus's temple.

Thirteen shamans encircled them in another circle and each one of them stood behind a small bonfire . Rest of the tribals stood faraway , from where they observed the ritual and Alistair and Arcturus too joined them.

The chief looked at the sky for a long time as if looking for a sign and it became evident soon what it was looking for. A comet flew above them, which surprised Arcturus and as he knew how powerful a comet can be in many enchantments knew that this ritual would be very powerful.

They began,the runes flared up in fire, the thirteen shamans threw some powder in the bonfire and it took a purple color and grew ,they went ten feet high easily . Then the seven shamans started muttering their chants and the two chants were in perfect synchronization .

It went on for ten minutes, a naked Perseus was levitated in the air while the chief too stood up and held his staff in both hands and closed his eyes . And then in the bling of an eye the seven shamans took out dagger, which appeared to be crafted from a bone

"Dragon's bone" Alistair supplied to which he nodded.

The shamans then did the unexpected the stabbed themselves in the heart and their bodies went limp.

"What" Arcturus shouted in disbelief but was even more bewildered to note that the rest of the tribe stood as if they expected it , even alistair.

"Why would they do that" Arcturus asked to no one in particular, but and old lady stepped forward and answered his question.

"What better to strengthen a sacrificial protection than another sacrifice and better yet seven ."

Arcturus then again looked at the ritual and soon enough , seven trails of white light emerged from the fallen bodies of shamans and one by one they wrapped around Perseus's naked body like a golden cocoon and after some more moments the bonfire dimmed down, the remaining shamans knelt and started panting , their energies spent.

The chief lowered Perseus's body and he too fell on his knees and used his staff to steady himself

"It was a success my lord" Alistair informed him.

 _ **-Flashback ends-**_

"What is on your mind my lord" came the voice of Alistair behind him which brought him out of his musing . Arcturus turned and looked at the ancient being that stood beside him, his faithful servant , who has roamed this earth for the last 1500 years and has served the black for almost half of that time.

"NothingAlistairr, just recalling the night Perseus became a part of my family "he replied

After that night Perseus has gained consciousness , and somehow he was well aware of how they have gotten here , ever since that day he has developed an insane amount of magical immunity from any kind of magical attack. And what was even more surprising was that the chief of the shamans had Then agreed at Perseus's request of teaching him shaman magic himself. Perseus had then stayed with the chief for the next 8 months along with alistair, and even the chief was surprised that Perseus has learned it all in such a short time.

"Aah yes , he has come quite far" he replied

It was true indeed , at first, when Arcturus had adopted the boy, he was a mess. Having basically being a victim to the dark lord's attack that ruined his life, and then being abandoned by his family. It was quite understandable. The traumatic experience had a lasting effect on the boy. He often spent most of his days back then in his room, sitting at his desk, and staring out the window at the sky for hours. It was extremely hard to get the boy to speak more than a few words to anyone, and when he did, it was a simple greeting before he clammed up again.

Arcturus had briefly considered therapy for the boy before the most amazing thing happened; Perseus started to open up to him when the boy expressed a willingness, nay, a need to learn and acquire knowledge.

As a black, Arcturus had always been one to believe that knowledge was power, and that those without it were doomed to be weak and fail in life. It was a view of the world that Perseus eventually adopted from his guardian and opted the boy to ask for some home schooling, Arcturus was more than happy to oblige, secretly glad the boy opened up to him. It eventually proved to be the basis of their bond, one that Arcturus was more than happy to cultivate.

It was another thing that helped Perseus win over Cassiopeia, his cousin , the brilliant inventor has then went on to train Perseus in the many fields of magic, specially runes, potion and arithamacy . She was a very brilliant witch, holding the record of being the youngest person to get a mastery in spell crafting, at the mere age of 19 and then she even got mastery in potions , runes and charms.

And Perseus was an amazing student , learning everything from her in one go, she has even told him that Perseus is way beyond her in intelligence and power .

And within years Perseus has amazed even her with his wide amount of knowledge that he has gained from spending capacious time in the black library. And even she was amazed by the skills Perseus has displayed .

She had then went on to teach Perseus the secrets of surviving in the political arena as well as in the world. Cassiopeia has over the time accumulated secrets about the other pure-blood families, secrets which if ever came to light were bound to reduce that family to ruins. Something that the blacks have used a lot to get their way.

Perseus was a very gifted wizard; he spent most of his time in the library of the black manor, practicing and learning magic, although he was not allowed to certain obscure and dark books that were in the library. He was not only able to do the basic charms and spells that too wandless and he did it with such ease that still baffled Arcturus sometimes.

As he turned nine, Perseus choose a wand from the family's collection or as ollivander would say the 12 inch yew wand with a unicorn hair that previously belonged to phineas black choose him, not choose him per se but it was the one that suited him the most.

He then desired to learn more about muggle fighting, the martial arts, at first the lord black was skeptical about his charge's desire to learn the art of muggle fighting and that to at such a young age but then he recalled he mastery his mentor had over assortment of weapons and fighting style . Something that he never was able to learn much about from him. It was due to this reason that he arranged the best martial arts tutor in all of Europe , a vampire named slade Wilson, who was converted by his loyal servant some 900 years ago after training him vigorously and was also a master of spies of oceania. He was the leader of the order of shadows . An illegal organization of vampires that carried out the will of Alistair. They were all converted by him. They presently were working as spies for Arcturus as well as tracker and assassins.

Arcturus was amazed by the speed with which Perseus learnt, for just within 2 years of training he was a master at the use of swords ,daggers , staff and even in hand to hand combat but what Perseus excelled at was archery, he could shoot a target with his eyes closed. Even slade was baffled by this as he himself didn't know how to do that.

A sound of clank brought him out of his thoughts as he took in the sight in front of him, the tip of Perseus's blade rested against slade's neck while slade's blade has clattered on the ground.

"Yield" Perseus said .

To which slade responded by raising his arms in show of surrender and Perseus, in a blink of an eye sheathed his blade. As both mentor and student started laughing.

Arcturus stood from his chair with the aid of a cane and clapped softly as the two approached him.

"There is nothing left for me to teach you anymore, Perseus, at this point you can proudly say that you are the best swordsman in the whole of europe, but still practice regularly and one day you will be an opponent to be feared in the battlefield " said slade , with pride evident in his voice, "and the way you shoot arrow with your eyes closed , if you can incorporate that set of skill in use of sword or even wand, you can be an exceptional warrior. "he paused and then said again

"Even in my time , this skill was rare. For you to master such technique without any training, I am amazed Perseus. And let me tell you that there are only 3 wizards who can accomplish the same"

"Who "Perseus asked in excitement.

"My mentor , Aristaeus himself, Busirius and high master of Mahoutokoro , master yoshi." Arcturus replied with pride evident in his voice .

"Thank you slade and thank you for teaching me "said the 11 year old Perseus politely.

For an eleven year old boy Perseus was tall, about 5 feet, give or take and had a built that showed years of hard work, with shoulder length black hair and his emerald green eyes , gave him an overall impressive aura great good looks, befitting a black, although Arcturus thought the blood adoption ritual didn't change the boy's feature that much , he was already more black than potter.

"This was your last lesson , Perseus ,oh and before I leave, you asked me about certain things to find out "he asked, and continued at seeing him nod" well I was able to find most of them with the aid of lord black and Alistair, consider it a birthday present".

From his robes he pulled out a tome, and handed it to Perseus" you wanted to use weapons such as sword, spear or knives as magical foci, well that is what the warlocks of the ancient Greece did so did the vikings and as for the use of a bow as a foci, well I was able to find that in ancient time the wizards of south asia, around the area of Himalaya mountain ranges, they used bows as a magical foci "He said.

I was elated at hearing this information as I took the book from slade, as he waited for him to finish.

"But alas, that knowledge of that particular art of warfare was lost centuries ago "he finished.

"Oh" was the only word I could say, disappointment clear on my face but then I regained my composure and said," nevertheless slade, thanks for the book "and I then looked at the book and groaned, as I recognized that language easily and it was not one I was fond of 'old norse' .

"Oh and for that you will also have to acquire a magical blade as well, preferably a goblin made "said the mentor," and with that, I bid you farewell Perseus , may your path lead to glory ".

"Will we ever meet again slade?" he asked his mentor.

The man shrugged and replied, "I think our paths will cross one day", as he grasped his student's hand in a handshake.

He then moved towards Alistair and shook his hands too and then Arcturus walked him out of the manner , leaving alistair and Perseus alone.

"You have learned a lot , master black" Alistair said as Perseus agreed with this statement and his mind went to the ordeal he has endured after the blood adoption ritual.

 _ **-flashback-**_

He gave his grandfather a smile after the glow has died out but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his forehead, so much pain that he lost consciousness. When he woke up he found himself in a blank room with fog all around.

He then came face to face with another being and he almost screamed in fright . The man was tall, bald, and white but what was most different about him were his eyes, crimson slit like eyes glowed with power.

He then said in a hiss

"So you are my new host"

"What do you mean by that" Perseus said , now a bit afraid .

"My soul will take over your body as soon as I crush your consciousness and then I will return , more powerful than before and for that I thank you harry potter"he said with a smirk.

He knew his name, and that was the last piece of information he needed to concluded who was the being in front of him

Voldemortt " Perseus said

"Aah so you remember me"

"How are you here , I though you were dead"

"Ohh no harry , I can't be killed , that night your grandmother invoked an ancient magic on I was unaware of and she granted you protection, the like of which I have never heard of. And for two years I have been trying to take over your body but that protection always kept me out. But now I will fulfill my dream, your unique ability as a nulifier will be a huge boon " he said and Perseus realised that whatever that protection was, somehow that protection must have faltered due to the blood adoption ritual.

"Now you must die"Voldemortt said as he sent a volley of curse towards Perseus but was surprised to see that his spells vanished even before they eached Perseus. He then looked over at Perseus intently and then said

"I guess I will have to do it the mundane way" he then with lightening speed came towards Perseus and punched him and knocked him back. He then went on to give him the beating of his lifetime. He coughed up . Voldemort then started chocking his throat and Perseus's eyes went blurry. But suddenly he felt Voldemort being pushed backward. He stood up and cleared his eyes only to find him in the company of a very old man who held a staff in his hand.

"Who are you and how did you get here" Voldemort said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I am here to help this boy" the old man replied

"A shaman" Voldemort muttered and then continued to speak.

"So you think you can defeat me, hahahah" and he started laughing

"No, I know I am no match for you , atleast not alone but I am sure this boy will fight too" he said looking at Perseus. Perseus was about to tell him that he was in no state to fight anymoe but suddenly he felt himself surrounded by a golden gloe and power cursed through him . He felt getting stronger and when the glow died out. Perseus stood back , his eyes glowing with power . Both voldermort and the shaman looked at him in surprise. Somehow Perseus could feel that an invisible armour has wrapped around itself.

And then both the shaman and Perseus faught Voldemort and in the end the shaman bound Voldemort and started muttering a chant and Voldemort started screaming . The form of Voldemort turned into dust and the said dust flew towards Perseus and wrapped around Perseus like another layer of skin.

The shaman looked alarmed . Perseus looked at him and asked what happened

"I should have known that your nullifier powers will change the ritual somehow , not only you absorbed the power of nature and night and moon that was channeled through my companions you also absorbed the soul of Voldemort after I had purified it. You may soon develop some of his powers .

"I know Perseus said" the shaman was partly correct, for it wasn't just Voldemorts power that he has absorbed but also his knowledge , he could feel it inside his head , as if he himself has lived for over a 50 years and they were his own memories. He then looked at the shaman and said

"As a matter of fact I know I can absorb you too" and with it the shaman got worried

"Dont do that, I helped you"

"Why not, I want your powers and knowledge, what better way that this. Shamans after all have unparalleled knowledge in soul magic, blood magic, rituals, potions,healing and even divination "

"There is a better way " the shaman said ,"I will teach you not only that but I will have other master shamans to teach you too"

"Hmm"Perseus considered it for a moment and then said

"Alright then, but you will have to swear an oath and also that you will never tell a soul about our deal,"

The shaman felt like making a deal with incarnation of evil but he complied nonetheless .

 _ **-flashback ends-**_

Voldemort's knowledge were a great boon indeed, but it was just knowledge still , he had to practice all that magic to get a hang of then told said ti alistair

"Slade also taught me how to fight vampires, as in the spell that can bring the vampires to its knees"

"He taught you that" alistair asked in astonishment to which Perseus nodded

"Show me"he said

"Are you certain" Perseus asked to which he nodded.

Perseus raised his arms and within moments the spell took effect, there was no flash of light or sound or anything, the only evidence that the spell has worked was that alistair was on his knees and he was clutching his head and shaking with pain. But within seconds alsitair got up , which surprised Perseus for he was sure that the spell was still in effect.

"How did you do it" Perseus asked , ending the spell.

"Perseus I am a very old vampire , I was the first vampire that was converted by the elders, whatthis spell does is boil the blood in our head, and burn the nerves in our brain, now any other young vampire will be rendered unconscious by this spell , and a wizards brain after continuous exposure might pop up. But it won't work very well on older vampires and I assure you it has never worked on an elder vampire, their healing ability is beyond anything. "

"Tell me about them, the elders, you knew them well right?"

An uneasy expression came over him but he replied none the less

"Yes, my brother aaron was one of the elder vampire, he was an apprentice of a witch named diana . It is said that it was diana that turned them into vampires . I am not certain of the details, but they say diana create them to kill werewolves which were created by another which" he got a faraway look in his eyes and then said

" I remember it , when I got sick , my brother turned me to save me, but we soon had a falling out., I haven't talked to him in a millennia"

Perseus could not ask him what did they fight over but he was curious about diana and as such asked about her .

"At that time she was regarded as the most powerful witch in all of greek, it was even rumored that she was a descendent of hecate , who the muggle regarded as a greek goddess of magic, diana was perhaps the last magical to have mastered ancient magic" he answered

"Ancient magic?" Perseus asked

"Oh yes, that magic practiced by the wizards of old, of the third age of men" he answered

"What's the difference between that magic and magic practiced today?" Perseus asked

"Well most of the ancient magic was practiced without the use of any foci, it was more raw in nature. It involves more rituals & alchemy. After all it was a complex fusion of rituals, blood magic and alchemy that created my kind." he replied

"Without any magical foci" Perseus asked in surprise to which alistair nodded and he asked again

"Tell me alistair , what has been the evolution of magical foci throughout the history "

"Aah well in the ancient time, long before the times of titans or olympians or pharos, devtas or rakshas , the wizards and witches lived in seclusion . There was no society of magical folks or gathering . The magic they employed was very raw. That time they used non-traditional magic, rituals, enchantments . Then came black magic

"Black magic" Perseus asked with curiosity

"Yes black magic, extremely dangerous , but it was not spontaneous magic , a lot of preparation was required for them. Then as muggles developed weapons , wizars too adopted them. At first they started enchanting mundane weapons. Then came the next phase, they started forging weapons of magic from the scratch. These weapons were better stronger: magical swords , spears , shields , armors even. Even magical bow and arrows. But these foci could only channel magic in a limited way I.e give their magic a destructive force"

"Then slowly magical beings started coming together and formed their own states , away from the muggles. Some of these were olympians , atlantis, mount othrys, mount meeru, asgard to name a few. Then came an era of development for wizards , these nations , they developed their magic , their weapons and improved their living conditions . Started making different sorts of magical devices , for instance , chariots , prisons , jwellery etc. But then came the problem.

"What ?"Perseus asked

"You see Perseus , the elves had already attained the same thousands of years ago. When humans lived on scraps, the elves lived lavishly . Afterall there can only be one lion on a mountain. The clash was inevitable."

"Who one?" asked Perseus

"The elves"came the reply

"What?" he asked shockingly.

"Yes Perseus, you see while the elves were outnoumbered by about 1:50 , they possessed better weapons , moreover their magic was refined by years of use. The wizards were destroyed in these wars . But then came a time that only a few settlements of elves remained . The dying elves taught their art of enchanting to dwarfs and goblins." he took a pause here and then continued

"In some years , the wizards rose again, but this time they refrained from fighting the elves. They then turned their weapons against each other. The battle to supremacy began. In the continent that we now call europe , two groups of wizards reached the top: the titans and olympians."

"How did that turn out"Perseus asked knowing well that the titans lost .

"As you know that the olympians lost , but that was not the case in the beginning . You see the goblins were allies of the titans and the olympians found their ally in the dwarfs , but when it came to forging weapons, the goblins had an upper hand. The olympians were on the verge of loosing the war. It was then that olympians turned towards hephaestus for help, for he had studied magic from the elves and—"

"What" Perseus interrupted"why would the elves teach a wizard when in the past the wizards had gone against them"

"Aah yes , there is a story behind that too, I do not know the details Perseus but hephaestus once saved the life of a son of a leader of elves and in return hephaestus asked elves to teach him everything they knew about magic , specially enchanting weapons and forging them. And so hephaestus made weapons for the olympians that even the elves could not.

"Zeus's master bolt, Poseidon's trident, Hades's helm of darkness, the shield of Athena , Aries's mace , the bow of Apollo and Artemis. With these weapons they should have been able to defeat the titans easily but then came a twist " here Alistair gave a sly smile before continuing

"Some of the elves had agreed to help the titans and they crafted such weapons that were extremely lethal: the scythe of kronos, the five pronged leister of ocenious . Fire sword, ice sword and the most lethal of them all , the scepter of erebus, which was last wielded by your grandfather's mentor .. But if that was not enough the elves created a masterpiece . Although some think that it was not their creation , it was something they have gotten far from the end of the land."

"What was it" he asked, interest piqued .

"An armour. The impenetrable armor and gave it helios . That golden armour that shined like a thousand suns, wearing that armor helios entered the battlefield and started mascaring the olympians. No one could land even a single blow on him. At one point , all the strongest warriors of the olympian army ; zeus , athena , hades ,posidon , artemis , aeries , appollo, they all deployed their most powerful weapon on helios . But his armor neutralized all those attacks . With that armor , helios was immune to the aura of hades's helm, aphrodite's siren magic and even athena's shield. The olympians tried to find the weakspot in that armor but there was none. It was then athena employed a different tactic"

Giving Perseus a dim look he said

"Since there was no weakspot in the armor, but the same could not be said for helios. His weakspot was selene : his precious sister. And thus hades, invisible and incorporeal under his helm easily kidnapped selene from mount orthys . And the next day on the battlefield , the titans sent helios alone to fight but on the battlefield the olympians revealed their trump card to him; that they have his sister captive"

"Then what did helios do" Perseus asked in a low tone.

"What else could he have done but surrender . He tore the armor off his body . You see , they say that the armor had become one with his body , like another body part and he sliced the armor off. Helios started bleeding profoundly and they say the olympians took the armor and left helios to die. When the titans arrived on the battlefield , instead of dead olympians they found a weeping selene siting beside a bleeding helios , who then took his last breath"

After a moment Perseus asked him

"What did the olympians do with that armor, I mean who got possession of it then?"

"No one " he replied

"What" asked Perseus

"Yes, after a lot of arguments among themselves, at the end zeus tried that armor on, keyword being tried. The armor did not work at all for him, then the other olympians took turns; hades, poseidon, athena, artemis, apollo, but none succeeded. It was then that athena, hephaestus and hecate studied the armor and concluded that only a very strong paresidium could utilize the armor and none of the olympian was one. It was then hephaestus proclaimed that the armor was not elvish made and that the material of the armour is the one he has never heard of before let alone see it; it had an unnatural glow emitting from it and it was as soft as silk , but sturdier , so much that nothing could pierce it ."

"Who do you think made it?"Perseus asked

"I am not sure, but what I do know it that it was not from around here." Alistair replied

"So what did the Olympians do with that armor"Perseus asked to which he replied

"They say that years after the war was over , the Olympians got worried that their weapons in the wrong hands could lead to a disaster . And so they hid the weapons in a secret location and had Hecate cast a cloaking ward over it , they then hid the armor in a different location.

"And what about the weapons of the titans"he asked again

"Well some of them , that the Olympians got there hands on were hidden but some were never found"he answered

"Have those weapons ever been recovered?"

"Yes, if one has the keen aye then they can recognize the emergence of some of those weapons over the time, many wizards have tried to look for those weapons in the past, a few succeeded in procuring a weapon from time to time. Those wizards would rise to power and after their fall those weapons would be lost too."Alistair replied

"Have you ever searched for these weapons" Perseus asked and here alistair gave a sly smile and said

"I have never purposely looked for them , but whenever one of those weapon ended up in my hands , I would put them in a secure location"

"What weapons do you have"he asked excitedly

"The leister of ocenious , the spear of Priam, the sword of aether , the bow of Hyperion , the spear of Ra"Alistair said

"Ra?, but I thought only the greeks made such weapons" Perseus inquired

"No Perseus , wizards were spread across the globe, why, there were greeks, egyptians, asgardians, the persians, the devtas of mount meeru as well as the rakshas , even far away in america wizardkind flourished . Wizards of those distant lands were very powerful Perseus , the wizards such as zeus , posidon, hades , erebus, kronos, atlas , seth , ra ,odin,thod, indra, vishnu , surya, shiva, are said to have the knowledge or weapons of mass destruction, much before the muggles did and that too about 3-4 millennium before them. Those wizards were extremely powerful Perseus. Over the years many wizards have risen to power but no one has ever reached the power of those ancient wizards wielded" he replied

"What abput dumbledore and voldemort?" Perseus asked

"The world is much more bigger than just dumbledore and voldemort" he said

"What about Aristaeus and his students ?"he asked

"All the students of Aristaeus , including Voldemort and Dumbledore and your grandfather are almost equal in terms of power , Voldemort and grindelwald a tad more than others . Although all of those wizards have their strengths and x himself being a powerful sorcerer and quite versed in old magic , could be the only one who comes close to anywhere near the level of power of those ancient wizards "Alistair answered

"Can I see those weapons?"Perseus asked.

"Well if you so desire , I will but I would advise against it"he answered

"Why?"

"Patience is a virtue , my lord . There is a reason that lord black has not used any of those weapons. Remember young lord , it is not the weapon that is legendary but the man wielding it."he answered

"I guess , you are right" Perseus said and nodded in understanding

"Although , I would say that after hearing about your archery skill that maybe you are ready to wield a certain bow in my possession" he said with a knowing smile

"An apt birthday present, I guess" came the voice of Arcturus black who was standing a few meters away from them.

"Yes grandfather " Perseus replied

"Shall we go inside the manor Perseus, freshen up then we will go to daigon ally after breakfast, to get you a wand and then in the evening we will celebrate your birthday with your grandmother casseopia " said Arcturus.

"Yes grandfather, my own wand, finally, no offence, but this wand "he said raising his wand, "it feels somehow off" he said cheerily

"I must go to Oceania my lord, I have been away for long time now" Alistair said to which Arcturus nodded and then both men made their way towards the manor from the training arena.

* * *

Perseus and Arcturus flooed to the leaky cauldron .although harry would have preferred to apparate straight into the middle of diagon alley, Arcturus would not hear of it. The man was adamant that Perseus was too young to apparate . After Perseus heard that statement, he had to fight hard not to roll his eyes.

The leaky cauldron was just as Perseus had remembered it to be. There were a couple of witches gossiping quietly at a corner. A family of four was seated at a table and was having one of tom's famous shepherd pies for lunch. A group of wizards at another side were playing cards quite boisterously and making a lot of noise in general, there were a few shady individuals seated in the corner of the tavern talking amongst themselves, three hags laughing at what he assumed to be an extremely funny joke.

"Now, here we are", Arcturus said as they entered the dusty courtyard that led to diagon alley. "right, it was three up, two across and here we are, Perseus", Arcturus said as the brinks melted away into air and diagon alley emerged. Perseus grinned and followed Arcturus into the alley all the while his eyes moving.

He also passed some apothecary with a sign saying ' _sale on grindylow slime, 17 sickles a pound_ ' with a weirdly dressed – even for a witch – old woman smiling at people walking by her shop with a large toothless smile. She'd probably get more customers if she stayed in her shop instead of scaring people off before they even entered like she did.

Further down the alley, he passed a store that had all sorts of people crowding around it looking at the latest racing brooms and quidditch supplies. Most of the children seemed to be looking on, with stars in their eyes, at the magical photos of quidditch stars performing various aerial tricks and acrobatics on their brooms. The one on display at the moment was albert shearer, the legendary english seeker.

"Where are we going first grandfather?" asked Perseus, trying not to sound like a kid in a candy store, though Arcturus still found his behavior amusing.

"Relax Perseus, we'll get your wand soon," the man assured him with an amused chuckle, "but first, we need to get some gold from the family vault to pay for all your supplies. And also to put back your current wand back in the vault".

Purseus nodded shortly as they entered the white marble halls of gringotts. As they were about to pass through the main entrance of gringotts, harry noticed a plaque with a small message to all who entered the building, an ominous message at that:

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_  
 _of what awaits the sin of greed_  
 _for those who take, but do not earn,_  
 _must pay most dearly in their turn._  
 _So if you seek beneath our floors_  
 _a treasure that was never yours,_  
 _thief, you have been warned, beware_  
 _of finding more than treasure there._

 _When looked on from the alley, the bank towered over the other shops in the alley with its snowy white façade and bronze guarded entrance. Gringotts vaults were buried deep below its main hall, accessed only by the bumpy, speedy cart rides through deep underground caverns which could only be worked by a gringotts goblin. There were few safer places in Britain other than gringotts bank._

 _The two however didn't line up in a queue of any counter, they moved towards towards another counter and upon reaching there the goblin got up from his char and greeted them._

 _"Good morning lord black" said the goblin._

 _"Good morning , master goblin_

 _"I have a meeting scheduled with the account manager grimlock" the lord black said in a tone befitting a lord._

 _"Yes, lord black, please follow me" said the goblin as he lead them in front of another room and knocked on the door._

 _"Who is it" came a voice from inside._

 _"Its lord black , account manager grimlock" replied the goblin._

 _"Let them in "._

 _The goblin opened the door and lead us inside the office, the goblin sitting behind the table stood up to greet the arrivals as he said" good morning lord black, Mr. Black , please take a seat"._

 _"Thank you grimlock" he said in_ gobbledegook .

Shock was evident on the aged goblin's face, "you speak gobbledegook, Mr. Black".

" _Not fluently but yes_ " he replied in gobbledegook.

"Most interesting" he said in english while looking at Arcturus.

"My heir is well versed in many languages, gobbledegook being one of them, " Arcturus answered to the goblin's unasked question.

"Hmmm so lord black, the papers you asked me to draw, to name Mr. Black as the heir of the most noble and ancient house of black and to set up a trust vault under his name with the principal amount of 10,000 galleons with the transfer of 1000 galleons every month from the family vault "said grimlock handing Arcturus a stack of parchments.

"What, what's going on, grandfather, what heir?"asked harry, witnessing this unexpected event.

"You are already the heir of house of black, this is just to make it official, also I thought it would be a suitable birthday gift "he said as he signed at the bottom of the parchment in red ink and beckoned me to do the same.

Perseus took the quill and was about to sign when he felt something in his palm, and suddenly he realized what I was holding in my hand.

"Blood quill "Perseus asked looking accusingly at the goblin.

"Gringrotts's policy, Mr. Black, " he said, "so that no one can claim fraud latter on and contest your position "he finished.

Satisfied, Perseus signed with his own blood, quite literally . The account manager then offered me a golden key and a ring.

"Key to vault 777, and the signet ring for the heir of the most noble and ancient house of black" he explained.

Perseus took the ring and put it on his ring finger of his left hand and took the key from grimlock.

"Thank you grandfather " Perseus said ,"this means a lot to me"he finished with unshed tears in his eyes, tears of mirth .

"No need to thank me , my boy" he said as he handed him a small pouch," it's a moleskin pouch, with and extension charm, go to your vault and get some gold, we have to do some shopping after all" he finished with a warm smile on his face.

Once finished with their task they emerged from the bank. "I'd suggest we get something to eat seeing that it's already lunch time. . ." Arcturus suggested casually, grinning as Perseus glared – hard – at him, "but I guess we can get your wand so you can stop glaring at me like a spoilt five year old child," he finished with a chuckle.

Perseus was already scurrying off towards ollivander's leaving an irritated lord black in his wake who was forced to follow his charge's trail.

As soon as Perseus entered the shop, there was a tinkle of a bell from above indicating to whoever owned the store that they had a customer. Not surprisingly though, the small dusty shop was empty currently, considering it was still January, as most children got their wand after getting there hogwarts letter. Oh well, he wasn't going to complain, it just meant he could get his wand sooner.

"Who are you boy, I do not recognize you" a voice said from behind him, startling him somewhat. Spinning on his heel, he turned to see what he thought to be the wizarding version of Albert Einstein peering at him through his spectacles with interest, "if I were to hazard a guess, I would put my money on you being a black".

"And you would be correct in your assumption sir" replied Perseus.

" Aah a black who is polite and respectful, "said the aged wizard ," a rare combination indeed, here to get your wand eh?".

Perseus looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "what , a wand, no, I just like to spend my time in the company of weird old people" he replied .

"Ohh so much for being polite "said the wand-maker in fake remorse.

"Lets fix u a wand then shall we, which is your wand arm then?" asked the wand maker, pulling a tape measure out of his pocket and allowing it to float mid air as it took the most obscure, and in his opinion, pointless measurements imaginable. Perseus just wanted his wand as quickly as possible, so he went with it, not caring either way.

"I'm ambidextrous," he answered, but he got the feeling that ollivander wasn't listening as he had just dismissed the answer and went out back to bring out a few boxes, of what he correctly assumed, held wands.

"Try this first, 13 inches, unicorn hair from a rather arrogant male unicorn, robust and good for defense charms," he said, handing him a brown wand which immediately, however, it almost burnt his hand right off as soon as he touched it "nope, not that one either, it seems the unicorn passed off its arrogance to his hairs as well. . .".

"Nope, not that one," ollivander said, snatching the wand right out of his hand and returning it to its box, "try this one, 11 ¼ inches, dragon heartstring core from a, good for finesse and skilled spell casting," he explained, handing the wand to Perseus, which upon having contact with it, gave him goosebumps.

Fishing out another wand from the back, ollivander had a smile on his face as he handed it to the boy "This one should do it, 12 inches, dragon heartstring core from a particularly fierce Hungarian horntail, excellent for battle magic and charms" this one sounded interesting to Perseus, so, taking it in his hand and hoping for the best, he prepared to swish it only for a large number of shelves to burst open and release their contents around him in a wild display of chaotic magic.

Ollivander frowned as he took the wand back and went to get some more boxes; it was also at that moment that lord black decided to enter the store.

"Aah hello Arcturus , its good to see you after such a long time,how have you been, you have gotten old" he said all at once

"Hello Garrick, , it's good to see you too and I am not the only one to be touched by old age "replied Arcturus." now how about we get to business where you fix young Perseus a wand".

"I've already tried three, but none of them are right apparently. . ." Perseus trailed off as ollivander came out with an armful of wand boxes. Arcturus got the idea that they would be here for a while.

Perseus couldn't believe this, he had to have tried at least _every_ wand in the damn shop, the last one ollivander was _sure_ would have worked for him – some holly and phoenix feather wand, but it was not to be, that one too left him feeling empty.

"How can this be garrick, how come no wand was matched for Perseus" asked acturus.

"Hmm I can't think of any reason as …" he stopped speaking suddenly and looked at harry with extreme concentration," aaha, no wonder these wands didn't choose you Mr. Black, for no normal wand will be able to bond with a nullifier".

This shocked Perseus as well as Arcturus ,' how did he know that Perseus is a nullifier'. And his mind went back to the conversation he had with his cousin dorea a long time ago.

 ** _-flashback—_**

 _"How are you dorea , and I hear congratulations are in order , grandmother" said Arcturus as he he released dorea from embrace._

" _I am doing great, Arcturus, and thank you, harry is a very beautiful baby boy " she replied," although you will be pleased to know that most of his features are that of a black, except his eyes, they are exact replica of lily's, "she finished._

" _Good ,then what ails you cousin" asked Arcturus, obviously able to see her worries despite her trying to mask it._

" _Harry " she replied._

 _This confused Arcturus,"what about your grandson, dorea" he asked._

" _What do you know about 'nullifiers" she asked._

 _Now this confused him, "why are you asking about it" he asked but she gave him a pleading look so he continued, " I doubt I would know anymore about this topic than you already do, nullifiers , basically they have the power to absorb magic ,but there are two types of nullifiers, siphoners , they can absorm magic from anything, be it a spell, magical object or even a witch or wizard, but that is temporarily and siphoners don't have a magical core of their own "he finished._

" _Then there are the '_ _praesidium_ _' basically they have a invisible magical armour around their body to protect them from attacks, when a_ _praesidium_ _is angry or if the degree of the attack if high, their armour can become visible, giving a very bright aura to them, their invisible armour can be compared to the sun, anything that goes near it, it burns out of existence even before it reaches sun. And they have a magical core of their own, from what I have read they are immune to mental attacks as the probe of any legilimens will just burn out before it even reaches the mind. Same is true for most of the spells. Achilles, the hero of trojan war was a_ _praesidium_ _, a very strong one at that even physical attacks could not hurt him although like siphoners they cannot absorb magic from anything. "he finished._

 _Dorea just sat there listening to his explanation trying to comprehend everything he was saying._

" _So which description fits your grandson" he asked._

" _I do not know, all I know is that no spell has any effect on him, every diagnostic spell came back without a result"._

"We will just have to wait and watch then".

 ** _-flashback ends—_**

"What do you know about a nullifier , Garrick" asked Arcturus.

"Well first of all if one is a siphoner , a wand, or any magical foci , will never work for them, as for a praesidium, as is in the case of young Mr. Black, no wand will work for him until he bonds with it "replied the wand maker, "it's a magical ability just like metamorpmagus or an elemental ".

"So how will I acquire a wand "asked Perseus.

"Well to be honest Mr. Black, you will have to get a wand crafted for you, and it has to be bonded to your blood, but alas the ministry does not permit personalized wands and I -".

"Oh shush, don't worry about ministry's restriction, I will handle them, and if you wish for it I will even get you a permit to do it once" said the black lord.

"That is not the only problem, Arcturus, for I do not have that much knowledge or experience to create such a wand, we will have to seek someone else".

"You are the best wand maker in Europe Garrick, who could know more about wands then you" asked Arcturus.

"Well who else, but my grandfather "he replied, as if it should be an obvious fact.

"What, your grandfather, he still kickin" Perseus asked.

"Perseus"Arcturus scolds him, "behave, Mr. Silas ollivander is a very old and respected wizard, the wand you were using till now, was also one of his ".

"Sorry, grandfather, sorry Mr. Ollivander , I didn't mean it like that, I was just surprised "Perseus apologized .

"Ohh no need to apologize Mr. Black, and he is still as you just said it, kickin' it, he is just retired, he spends his time in his house along the cardigan bay, in wales, but I am sure he will come out of retirement for just this once, we can go now if you wish to."

"If it's not too much trouble, Garrick " said Arcturus.

"Oh no trouble at all" he said as he motioned us to exit the shop and followed us outside, "it's not every day you see a curious case like this one." he said as he waved his wand and the shop was shut closed.

"Very well then, hold onto my arms" ollivander said and they complied and instantly after what felt like being squeezed through a tube and finally after a second everything stopped spinning and it took Perseus a minute regain my composure , then his senses were greeted by salty air coming from the bay behind them.

A few meters in front of them was a moderate sized cottage surrounded by the mountains on one side and facing the cardigan bay, a few meters away from the cottage was what appeared to be a furnace of sort.

The trio approached the cottage and Mr. Ollivender knocked on the door and a few seconds later we were greeted by a wizard.

Now if one was to consider Mr. Ollivander an old man , then according to Perseus there was only one way to describe his grandfather; ancient,prehistoric . He was a tall ,slender, his silver hair and beard were so long it could have been used to play tug-o- war .the antediluvian man greeted his grandson with a hug and lord black with a warm smile and handshake as he invited them in.

As they were seated in a comfortable living room , Mr olivander senior, much much senior, asked the reason for this abrupt visit and it was then Mr. Ollivander recalled the entire story.

He then looked at me, his blue ancient eyes looked at me with excitement and curiosity perhaps and then he said," I would have loved to craft a wand for you , child I have both the knowledge as well as the materials to do so".

"I sense a 'but' coming ahead , sir", Perseus said. Trying to hide his disappointment and failing miserably at the task.

"yes, but I cannot ", before Perseus could respond, he continued ," it's not because I don't want to, on the contrary I want more than anything to create a masterpiece like that but for the bond to be forged between a praesidium and his wand, the praesidium has to craft the wand himself,. Only then will the wand accept you and only then will your magic accept the wand".

Despite listening to him and understanding the logic behind his refusal, it didn't lessen the disappointment. But then something clicked inside him ,' I have searched through Voldemort's entire knowledge and experience, which was extensive and could fill an entire library the size of black mansion, there was hardly any snippets about wand crafting', and Perseus knew what he have to request of the ancient wand maker in front of him.

"Teach me", the words were out of my mouth before he knew it.

"What" both Mr. Garrick ollivander and Arcturus asked in unison.

The ancient wand maker looked at me with sorrow in his eyes, "I am afraid I cannot do that either".

Now Perseus was getting irritated, but he maintained his composure, "I will be a good student, I will do anything you would ask of me, I can do it , I can learn the art of wand crafting "he said in a rush.

"Oh I know you can, you are the most powerful wizard in this room, but it is not about your ability to learn which I am sure is quite capacious "he replied calmly.

"Then what, what is it, why can't you teach me" Perseus asked.

"Because I follow the old rules, traditions if you must, for me to teach you I will have to take you as an apprentice, and as a mentor it would be my duty to teach you everything I know".

"Then what's the problem, I will learn everything" he countered.

"What grandfather is trying to say Mr. Black , is that he is not just a master wand maker but also a master of weapon forging , he was the only one in the entire history who learnt the art of forging magical weapons from the goblins back in his days".

Ohhh realization dawned upon him, for a minute nobody spoke, everyone looked at Perseus, he looked at the ancient wizard in front of him and said, '"then I must definitely learn from you, please take me as your apprentice and teach me , I promise you, one day you will be proud to call me your student".

"Very well then if your guardian would allow it" he said , giving a pointed look at Arcturus.

"Perseus , what about Hogwarts? , the term starts in 7 months" he asked looking at me.

"I can't go to Hogwarts without a wand, can I ?"Perseus said.

"very well then, but you do realize you will not be able to see me till your apprenticeship is over" he said .

Ohh this was new to him, he looked at the oldest wizard in the room.

"Yes, lord black is indeed correct" he answered Perseus's unasked question.

"But I think you should do it, Perseus, it will aid you greatly" the lord said.

"Thank you grandfather, " Perseus said as he reached over to him and engulfed him in a hug.

He then looked at his new mentor and asked" so when do we start, tomorrow?"

"Why tomorrow, we start now" he said.

Thank Merlin; this has turned out to be his best birthday ever.

* * *

On the other side of the country, lily potter was having the worst birthday ever, ever since she woke up from her coma and was told about her eldest son and how later everyone believed him to be dead, a part of her had died. She loved both her children but she guess she had a special bond with harry , not only because he was her first born but maybe also because they both shared the same birth dates , she wept looking at the barely visible sun, thinking about her long lost son . Then James stepped out on the balcony and tried to comfort his wife.

"I am so sorry lily, but it's been so long and everything points to one thing only" he said looking at his wife he continued," as much as it hurts me to admit it, our harry is gone, he is d- ".

"Don't you dare say it, my harry is alive "she said her sadness now accompanied by rage as she spoke," he is alive I know it, I can feel it, a mother can always feel it James and one day I will find him" a four month pregnant lily potter said as she put her hands on her swollen belly" a mother always knows".

* * *

 **Phew ,more than 12k thousand words , so guys what do you think.**

 **Please review and if you have any doubt just ask away**

 **And once again I apologize in advance for any spelling error , I am still looking for a beta reader**

 **and once again thanks a lot for reading, please review and tell your mates about it too.**

 **Laters**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 – WANDS AND LEGENDS

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

 **Ohk here is the third chapter, it will tell us a bit about the process of wand making, in detail .**

 **Read to know more**

" **conversation"** **  
** **'thought'**

* * *

 **PERSEUS'S P.O.V**

 _ **5 MONTHS LATER**_

A lone figure stood at the edge of the cliff, facing the massive and beautiful Cardigan Bay in front of me, the bay was quiet, as if it had been fed a sleeping drought. Perseus Aries black looked at his wand, the wand he had crafted himself , the wand , humming with power in his hands , ready to unleash his magic and to shape his will. He looked at The clear sky, typical of a summer night,

'but not for long' he thought as he raised his wand ready to test the wand's capacity to channel powerful , elemental magic and uttered the incantation of one of the most powerful elemental spell .

" _Tonabit furore meo ,_

 _Fulgur fortitudinem meam_ _"_

He felt a slight tug in his chest, magic rushing to power up the spoken spell, and then he heard it, the distinctive sound of thunder, and he continued with the chant.

" _Referte ad me nubes ,_

 _Palmarum nigrae quasi noctem_ _"_

Nothing changed, the thunder was still rumbling in distance , he thought it didn't work , but then he felt it , even before he saw it, the temperature dropped all of a sudden,. Black massive clouds were coming out of nowhere yet from every direction; they looked just like black mist at first, but gradually merged. Dark clouds obscured the moon; they churned grimly in the night sky as black as the young wizard's name. The moon's mercury flush was painted silver by the thunderheads, casting down shivers of light with a ghostly glow. Underneath the moon, the rain moved towards him like a wraith's wail of sorrow. A winnowing wind fermented and sighed, ripping the surface of the corpse calm sea.

The rain swept across the surrounding grass verges in a downpour. Lightning streaks across the horizon, capturing a frozen shot of The Cottage in the valley below: brown, muddy-red brickwork with turret-like windows and a tall chimney to side. Thunder, then more lightning and another glimpse of the cottage with the metal fencing surrounding the forge further on. More thunder and lightning. Torrents of rain and gusts of wind. Snapping branches and soaked leaves strewn along pavements. The steep winding road to the bottom of the valley glazed from the rain, tiny streams of waters trickle down the hill to join the bay at the other side.

This bedlam of nature caused a rush in his blood as he looked around, the elemental spell that should have been tedious to the point of causing magical exhaustion , specially for him , an eleven year old wizard with a developing magical core, even though he knew his magic was stronger than average .

'but it wasn't that hard' he thought in wonder and looked at his wand again in amazement , and his mind drifted to the days of learning the art of wand crafting from 'teacher' as he now called the ancient wand crafter .

 **-Flashback—(Perseus's P.O.V)**

"So let's start your training, Perseus"said the teacher.

He wasn't kidding when he said' why tomorrow, we start now'. After the departure of grandfather and Mr. ollivander, with the former promising me to send my supplies for daily need later, he lead me to the backyard, and into what I thought was probably a storeroom.

He pushed open the wooden framed glass door and entered the room. I was immediately hit by the smell of the place. There were thousands upon thousands of scents that permeated my mind as I took in my surroundings. The room was dusty, and was oddly shaped, narrow in width, but very long .Shelves lined the long room with one side holding what looked like potions ingredients and the other looking like a surplus supplier for a carpentry business. All sorts of wood lined the wall, most in long blocks the thickness and length of his forearms, while the potions were labeled meticulously and held in glass mason jars.

I was blown away by his sensory overload. Now this, I thought, was a wand maker's workshop. Nothing like the old moldy smell of _Ollivander's_ shop where there were rows upon rows of finished wands. I even wondered if the old man actually made his wands or if he just sat around and tried to scare the children coming into the store.

Teacher kept moving till he reached the end of the room, and placed his palm on the wall for a brief second and then the wall sprung aside and now there was a staircase leading to some sort of basement.

"Come", he said as he motioned for me to follow him down the stairs.

As we walked down the long staircase, I started to smell aromas that were familiar to the outer room, but were slightly different, slightly more volatile and pungent. As we entered the room at the bottom of the stairs I retracted my previous statement about the upper room. This room was what I had pictured a wand maker's work shop would look like.

It was a high vaulted ceiling, vent holes across the top to allow for volatile vapors to escape and keep the crafter unharmed, work benches and tools lined the walls, but looked untouched for years, even though not a speck of dust remained on the surfaces. The walls were lined with different magical materials, a vial of basilisk venom here, a jar of powdered unicorn horn there, a box of veela feathers, and many times many other rare and dangerous materials sitting innocuously in jars that had the faint bluish glow of preservation charms. Along the far wall, there was an even greater selection of wooden blanks used to craft the shaft of the wands. The woods were multi colored with different grains running through them, each carrying a distinct look. In a small area, were stacks and bins of different colored metals. Some in small containers as pellets or natural grains, or in stacks of smelted bars.

"Let us begin. Anything that has magic in it, gives a certain feeling, an aura, no two magical items, or two magical beings will ever have the same aura" he said suddenly. "Your first lesson would be to learn to read an aura." He finished as I nodded my head in understanding.

"But to be able to do that, you will have to strengthen and organize your mind" he continued," and I will first teach you that ancient art, it has existed from medieval times, it's called occ-"

"Occlumency ," I blurted out, "I know".

"You know occlumency " he asked without much surprise in his voice , and seeing me nod in affirmation " that's incredibly rare, to master such skill at such young age, this would make it very much easier for the both of us".

"Very well then" he said as he took out a glass vial and uncorked it and took out a strand of hair from it.

"do you know what this is" he asked me as he handed it to I knew what it was.

" unicorn's tail hair "I answered.

"Yes "he replied, "Now feel it and tell me what does your senses tell you about it"

"It's soft" I said, "and shiny".

"no no, my boy, you are feeling its texture , its appearance " he said and after a brief pause continued again.

" you are using your sense of touch and sight, but beside the five sense , that we humans have, there is a sixth sense possessed by wizards , the sense of magic , now feel the magic of this hair , bring forth your magic, and feel the magic within this strand of hair , Perseus, it's like you have to send a signal and wait and read the response".

I did just that, I tried to feel the magic within it but nothing, nada, but then something struck me.

'bring forth your magic' teacher had said, and I recalled the feeling I get whenever I do magic, 'the warm sensation cruising through my veins', and then I searched for the same feeling within the hair strand, I was about to give up on it when I felt it, a very faint sensation of magic and I dug deeper and after what felt like hours I felt it, the feeling of pureness, of innocence and most potently of light.

"It felt like, pureness, innocence "I said looking back at teacher who looked back at me with pride.

"Excellent Perseus, most wizards take up to a month to learn this skill and you did it in a matter of 10 minutes, amazing indeed" he said with pride and continued with the lecture.

" A magical core inside the wand is what allows the user to channel his magic, every wand core has a magic of its own, which gives it some characteristics, and that is why a wand can tell a lot about its owner"

I beamed at his words .

" now do the same for rest of the magical substance that are in the cupboards along the left wall" he said ,"familiarize yourself with them and then we will move towards our next lesson" he finished as he left the room leaving me alone in the room

My smile faltered, there must be hundreds of magical substances here but I started with the next, it was a phoenix feather, and it felt like, warmth and surprisingly hope. The next was a thestral's hair, and where the phoenix feather felt warmth, this felt cold and not surprisingly like a dead end.

It took me seven days to know the feel of every magical core, two hundred and twelve to be exact, and after a day's rest, we were standing in the same room as before , as I waited eagerly for my next lesson.

"good , very good indeed Perseus" teacher said, " now to your next lesson, the next essential thing in a wand, the wood. "He finished.

"Many, but not all types of natural woods are magical or have magical properties; therefore not all woods are made into wants to be used in magic. For those woods that are magical, they eventually find their way onto a wands list somewhere, having been discovered to be magical or have magical properties. This someone must know if they ever wish to carve or make their own magical wand. "He said.

 _"How_ can one tell if a wood is magical or not?" I asked.

"A layman would say 'No one really knows. But many seasoned or experienced wand makers somehow can tell the difference between a magical wood and a non-magical wood.', in a sense they are right, feel the magic of the wood just like you did with the cores and you will know "he answered.

"There is a reason the wand chooses the wizard **,** for wands are semi-sentient due to the fact that both the wood and core of a wand posses certain magic of its own, and wands can learn skills and abilities from their masters from time to time, as their masters can sometimes learn from them. Thus, certain wands will have abilities and skills that other wands might lack. It simply depends on who owns or who owned them **."** He stated.

"Sometimes, a wand can and will be made of two different types of wand wood, which are often referred to as combination wands. These wands are known to be twice as complex in their magical abilities and thus are twice as hard to find the right core or cores for. As such, combination wands often have combination cores, normally with one core being of the common type (such as Dragon Heartstring, etc.) and one core being of the exotic or less common type (such as Basilisk Skin, etc.)"He said.

" Though this doesn't at all mean that a combination wand can't have a single core or double of one type of core, or even a combination of two exotic cores in one wand.."

I nodded in understanding as I listened to him.

"There are times when a combination wand will include three types of wand wood known as three-type combination wands, thus making them three times more complex. The middle wood or heartwood located between the stem and the handle, often balances out the wood that makes up the stem of the wand and the wood that makes up the handle, being that the heartwood shares similarities between the two woods. Certain three-type combination wands with opposing wood types will need heartwood for balance in order to work together. The heartwood is located between where the stem and the handle connect."

He went on full lecturer mode and continued .

"Occasionally however, in the case of two highly compatible wand woods, a combination wand will be of two types of wand wood like a regular combination wand and be in three parts like in a three-type combination wand. These Two-Type Three combination wands for example, will have a handle and a stem of the same wand wood and yet have heartwood of a completely different wand wood. In the case of Two-Type Three combination wands, the favored traits, skills and subjects of the heartwood are normally dominant unless the two wand woods share all or some of the same favored traits, skills and subjects, then no dominance is posed."

Very rarely, though not unheard of, a wand will be made of four or more types of wood, thus are categorized as Rainbow-Type combination wands. Such wands will often have more then one heartwood and are the hardest to find the proper core(s) to. Often, Rainbow-Type combination wands will include a combination core (all rainbow-types have combination cores) that includes Unicorn Hair and/or Peacock Tail Feather, as such a combination of wand cores tends to somehow find balance among all the different wand woods and wand cores within the single wand." He finished.

"you with me so far, Perseus" at my nod , he continued

" Occasionally, some wand makers will take it one step further and literally breed two or more different kinds of trees together to make hybrid wand woods, from which hybrid, wizard-made wands are made from. Taking the best qualities of each wand wood and merging them into a single type wand. These types of wands are extremely rare and in some cases, illegal. _One of the most well-known hybrid wand woods of the Wizarding world is known as Weeping Birch, which is a purposely bred combination of Willow and Birch_ _ **.**_ The best qualities of both wand types are bred into a single type wand rather then the two wand woods apart being made into a combination wand."

"That can be done?" I asked surprise evident in my voice.

"Rarely, but yes ,Wand makers skilled in breeding different wand woods together often get unexpected results - where two wand types are compatible in a combination wand, but not when they are blended together into a single type hybrid wand. In the reverse, two wand types that were not compatible in a combination wand, end up working well and peacefully together in a single type hybrid wand possibly due to the mating of the two wand woods, which will often tame the more opposing, unpredictable or volatile nature of one or the other. The mating of opposites often make for the most attractive results.

"Though it should be noted that not all wand woods can be mated or bred into hybrids, especially if the traits of both wand woods sit completely on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Sometimes, those wand woods of same traits or are completely the same can't be made into hybrid wands, due to being rival wand woods which may or may not try to outperform or out do the other. The compatibility of wand woods can be determined by their strongest favored traits, skills and subjects, and will determine whether or not the two wand woods will breed or blend well together in a single type hybrid wand. "He finished.

"Now," he started again "In normal circumstances, when creating the best wands for use in magic, wand makers will often harvest wand woods and wand cores when the powers of magic have the strongest presence, usually during a full moon or when a certain alignment of planets occurs. This is never more important when a wand maker wishes to make a wand that is strongest in a certain natural element. For example, if the wand maker in question wishes to make a wand that is strongest in **Earth spells** , they will harvest their wand wood and wand core during the time when earth energies are strongest; usually in an alignment of planets that includes Saturn."

"But this is not the only factor when making a wand. The wand wood and wand core themselves must be able to tap into and harness the powers of these earth energies in order to properly wield spells or incantations involving the earth element. Most wands have powers in **Elemental Magic** , but most wands are specialized in only a certain natural element or elements depending on the wand wood and wand core. Very few wands ( **Ebony** wands for example) are able to wield all the natural elements, since most wands can only wield certain elements, whereas they can't wield others, due to the fact that every element as an opposing element or an element that will clash with the other."

"For example, **the opposing element of Fire is Water** , while **the opposing element of Air is Earth**. The **Metal element is random** , but is largely the opposing element of Air, since Metal is merely another form of Earth. Of course, there are also the factors of **Light Magic** and **Dark Magic** and depending on which kind of magic that the wand maker in question wants to wand to wield, will determine the overall strength of the wand when used in magic. Wands made to wield Dark Magic are naturally stronger in some fields of magic then in others, but those fields of magic that oppose the Dark are largely weakened or non-existent in a Dark wand. Of course, this is the same situation in the case of a wand that is made to wield Light Magic."

"However, there are those situations when a certain wand type and wand core can tolerate or peacefully wield opposing elements in the same wand, often when a heart core is involved , we will discuss the combination of cores later. Of course, wand woods and wand cores can be harvested at any time, but they will likely not produce as much of the quality results that are expected of them when harvested at certain times of the year. The area or location from which the wand wood and wand core are harvested can also play an important factor, since some places on Earth are more magically inclined than others.

"One factor that plays a role in harvesting wand woods and wand cores is finding a location that is in tune with spiritual world or the magical realm. Since magical powers or magical energies come from spiritual sources and from different plains of existence. One way to identify a magical location is by finding fairy rings (fungus growing in a circle or ring) or a circle of boulders. Boulder circles and fairy rings are known for being infused with magical energies, which makes the trees and shrubs in and around them highly prized sources of wand wood of the trees and shrubs in question are of a wand wood type. "He finished

"Well, enough theory for one day," he said," now go through every type of wood in this room and feel their magic, same procedure". And with that he left me alone again.

I sighed and did just that, it took me a week to complete the entire process. Teacher has collected some rare woods and cores indeed. There were woods commonly used for wands such as yew, ebony, but there were some special woods too ,like Blackwood , elder wood and black palm and , I even found a some hybrid woods , like yew bony , a hybrid wood of yew and ebony.

I even found some woods which are extinct or extremely rare to the rest of the world, like BIRCH of theWHITEMOUNTAIN, it Favors those who are patient, persistent, unyielding, have inner strength and courageous. At one time, this wand type was mainly found among the ancient necromancers who existed over 1000 years ago, and in ancient wizard lore, it was said that these wands could literally breathe life into the dead.

The next day, teacher showed his library, inside the cottage. It was not vast or huge like the library at black manor; on the contrary, there must be around a hundred books at max.

"You now know , and can identify most of the wand cores and woods, but every core and a wand has certain characteristics , there are books in this library, some are even hand written by me and my ancestors" he said, "that is the next part of your training".

And I like any other ideal student, did just that. Not that I would ever complain about reading a book, specially these tomes, collected by the greatest wand makers of all time , some even detailing the experience of the notable ollivanders.

It was a week later when teacher found my theoretical knowledge sufficient that we started with the real stuff.

"So before we begin our practical learning, if you have any queries, ask me now?" he said.

"Yes, you see I was reading about the use of gemstones in a wand, it can be done I read that much, but I have never seen a witch or wizard use a wand which had a gemstone of any kind?"I reply came instantly.

" In some cases, a wizard or witch will inlay magical gemstones into the handle of their wand, usually for decorative purposes. However, in many situations, the gemstones are used to boost the abilities of Elemental Magic that almost every known magical wand possesses. Most, but not all magical wands have the ability to wield the natural element or elements which associate with them and these gemstones are often used to boost those powers tenfold when they are used in a magical wand." He continued.

"However, not all wands are able to tap into the magical properties of the gemstones inlaid in them and thus will only have such gemstones in their handles for decorative purposes. Despite not being able to use the power of the gemstones inlaid within them in some cases, all magical gemstones have an elemental influence that will still affect the owner or the wand in some way, but will not boost the wand's elemental powers in any way, shape or form, but will affect the owner and/or the wand in other ways that may help the owner and/or the wand in other subjects. " here he stood up and got a small but obviously old book and handed it to me

"The magical gemstones associated with each wand type are listed in this book, used for decoration, elemental boost or elemental influence. It was written by an ancestor of mine even before the founders , he devoted his entire life doing research on the gemstones "He finished . I nodded in understanding as I took the book and asked my next question.

"what about use of metals in a wand and what about a staff, are they used anymore, and what about multiple wand use". To which he replied instantly.

"Magical staffs are almost as common as magical wands, just not in England. Though there methods of wielding are different from those of the wands. Only a few highly skilled and gifted wizards and witches are able to wield both a magical staff and a wand. And in some cases with compatible wand types, a wizard or witch is able to wield two wands at once, either of the same type or of two different types, making the wizard or witch twice as powerful and unpredictable. Only some of the most highly gifted and skilled wizards and witches are able to wield two wands at once. The method of wielding two wands at once is also somewhat different and more complex then when wielding a single wand as the owner has to manipulate two wands at once and must keep track of the movements of both wands and where they send their strikes. "He finished

"If I were to assume, I would say you already know how to use a mundane staff." He asked me.

"Yes" I replied

"Good good, for one of the best methods in learning how to wield a magical staff is to look at how normal staffs are wielded in combat, as the movements are the same. Though in the case of magical staffs, the magical energy and spells which comes out from the tip of magic wands can come out of both ends of a magical staff. All that a wielder of a magical staff need do is thrust either end of their magic staff towards their opponent, where then the blasts of magical energy would shoot towards their opponent and strike them.

The wizards of the **Durmstrang Institute** are among the best wielders of magical staffs in the Wizarding Europe, both in terms of blunt force magical power and creative use. Durmstrang wizards are known for being destructively powerful and highly skilled in what they do. Durmstrang students are trained in various forms of staff combat, and are often tested now and again to ensure that what they have learned remains sharply honed." Came his reply.

"Ohk, I get it, do you know how to wield a staff or how to use multiple wands."I asked

"Yes Perseus I know how to wield a staff , but unfortunately I only know the theory of the use of multiple wand" he said

"Will you teach me that "I asked in excitement.

"Remember what I told you , the day we met Perseus, a master has to teach his apprentice everything he knows" he replied and gave a warm smile which Perseus reciprocated and the said

" and as for the use of metal, we will come to that soon. Now moving towards the practical lesson, I believe the best way to learn something is to observe" he said as he started gathering some ingredients, probably for making a wand.

I watched as the he walked over to the ingredient shelves and began to pull jars and boxes from the shelves without hesitation. After pulling a bottle and box from the shelves, he returned to Perseus wearing a large anticipatory grin.

"I must say, child, I am very excited to make a wand after so long, even an ordinary wand like this" he said and opened the boxes and explained.

"In case of multiple wand cores, you first add the dry ingredients to the room temperature mix of dragon's blood elixir. They will slowly dissolve, but you must touch nothing. Any agitation would disturb the magic as it filtered into the potion. "

"We will use rosewood and unicorn tail hair as a core," he said, picking up a wooden blank.

"How do you know which wood is to be matched with which core" I asked

"You already know how to feel the magic of the wood and cores, if the magic of both wood and core resonate with each other than they can be used to create a wand."

He walked over to the bench and began to take out tools, chisels and bores, sand paper and many other tools were spread over the table as the man started to work. Within a few minutes, he had already created the bore into which the core would be poured, and then he had chiseled the wood down into the shape he required and carved his runes with an expert hand and a small shape knife. I recognized all those runes, they were futhark runes, symbols of _Strength , Power, Energy_ and many more. The wood was smooth and warm. He had definitely not lost his touch.

I was amazed, the wand was almost ready, and that too in a matter of an hour.

"Now this is the standard procedure of making an average wand "he said, "but if one were to use a metal as a shell of the wand, it becomes something more, the metal will be absorbed by the wood . " he finished as I watched him pick a metal sheet which was made of bronze .

The man pointed his own wand at the bronze which floated to a cauldron and slowly started changing into a liquid.

"Use that tool over there and bring the rosewood wand," he ordered.

The tool in question looked akin to a screw driver and was used to hold the wand in place while liquid metal was being poured onto it.

"Now, I want you to slowly roll the wand as I coat it in the copper metal. It need not be even as we can finish it after, but try to make it as even as possible, the more contact the metal has with the wand, the more magic can be channeled through it."

As he turned the wand, he saw the metal move over the wand in waves. It was beautiful as the liquid bronze rolled onto the wood and flowed into the crevices. I nearly made the mistake of stopping to admire the movement of the liquid metal. When it was complete it seemed to shimmer and it solidified immediately. He then took the wand to a grinding wheel where he spent over an hour polishing the wand.

The wand was indeed amazing, the metal was indeed absorbed by the wood but it left its luster behind and gave the wood and amazing durability.

"Now, It's your turn," he said as he motioned me to begin.

It took me a month but I finally I was able to create wands and now teacher has deemed my skills in wand crafting sufficient enough to craft a wand of my own.

But it was easier said than done, I was having difficulty finding a suitable combination. I was in the library, going through a few books that I have not read already.  
It was one such book, written by one Edward ollivander in the 12th century, that gave me the answer to what I seek but it also sparked a discussion and debate between me and teacher regarding, what is perhaps the most controversial topic amongst the wand makers ;" _The Elder Wand_ "

" _today, I witnessed the most epic duel of my life, my brother-in-law , has finally confronted the dark wizard, Emric the evil and it was a sight to behold, both wizards wielded elements with such efficiency and mastery, that it left me awestruck , but then I noticed the difference, Emric's attack seemed to be more powerful , even the basic dueling charms were somehow amplified by the wand he was using, but my brother-in-law was a tad more skillful then him, and creative in his use of spells. And that is probably why Emric was defeated, despite being more powerful in terms of raw power._

 _My brother-in-law acquired that wand after slaying Emric , and he allowed me to study it upon my request, and what I found surprised me, The Wand was ancient and made of elder wood. It was fifteen inches long and upon later inspection I discovered that it had a Thestral tail-haircore, which is a tricky substance that only wizards that mastered death can control. The Wand, as well as being more powerful than other wands, is noticeably unique from other wands in its appearance, particularly because it bears carvings that resemble clusters of elderberries running down its length._

 _To a normal eye, these cravings looked like elderberries , but to a trained one, such as myself, one could literally read the runes that were written within them, , the wand was efficient in every art of magic, be it transfrugation, charms, defense, dueling, battle magic, elemental magic, it was great even in household magic. But that was not all, the wand somehow amplified the power off the spells or reduced the amount of power required to use magic._

 _And it was then I knew without doubt, that the wand in my hands was none other than the elder wand, the topic of many controversies, the death stick, finally in my hands. And I knew what I had to do; I had to replicate this masterpiece_."

"What do you think "I asked him as I showed the page to him?

"ohh, the wand of destiny, so like many powerful wizards before you, you too are drawn to the tale of deathstick"he replied.

"You- you really think this wand exists, then "I asked.

"Oh yes, yes, it is perfectly possible to trace the wand's course through history. There are gaps, of course, and long ones, where it vanishes from view, temporarily lost or hidden; but it always resurfaces. It has certain identifying characteristics that those who are learned in wandlore recognize...Whether it needs to pass by murder, I do not know. "He replied.

"Its history is bloody, but that may be simply due to the fact that it is such a desirable object, and arouses such passions in wizards. Immensely powerful, dangerous in the wrong hands, and an object of incredible fascination to all of us who study the power of wands. "he finished

"Have you , or anyone else tried to duplicate it" I asked.

"Well many wand makers have tried that, including me. But it was at some point many years ago before 1899, the wand eventually ended up in the possession of the wandmaker Mykew Gregorovitch. Upon realising that it was the most powerful wand in existence, Gregorovitch began experimenting to try and duplicate its powers. Gregorovitch, unlike my ancestor Edward , was somewhat foolish by nature and hoping it would improve business, started a rumour about him possessing a wand and his efforts to replicate its properties. " he told me and continued with the story .

"The result came one night between 1899-1945 when Gregorovitch heard someone breaking into his workshop. He promptly ran inside and saw a blond haired young man had taken the wand, an intruder who then promptly shot a Stunning Spell at Gregorovitch to acquire mastery of the wand, before leaping out the window. Gregorovitch never found out who stole the wand."

"So you want to find the elder wand?" he asked me and before I could even respond, he continued

" don't Perseus, The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding history"

Erseus could detect worry in his voice easily and to sooth his worries he told him

"find it, no, no, I want to replicate it, I don't think the wand was made by death , it may have been created by the eldest of the three Peverell brothers, Antioch. Wouldn't it make more sense that this wand simply allowed one to focus their magic much more easily, while having affinities for all kinds of magic, unlike how your regular wands have affinities for certain branches of magic? After all Every wand crafter or metal charmer knows that the peverells were the best inventors in the history, maybe the elder wand was one of those inventions".he finished and the ancient wizard gave him a knowing smile and then asked

"Many before you have tried to replicate the elder wand, none has ever succeeded, what would make you any different" he asked. To which perseus replied with a grin.

" I have what they lacked, the first hand observation of Edward ollivander, the runes that were etched on that wand and its translation. He said it was these runes that turned the wand into a magic amplifier of sorts and also to make the wand equally suitable for every branch of magic."

"you would be right, I have read his work, the runes used on the wand, no one can understand them now, from what I can guess, even in 12th century these runes were nearly forgotten, and now they are all but forgotten, I, like many of my ancestors, have tried to fulfill Edward ollivander's dream, but alas I couldn't" he said, with a bit of sadness in his voice.

"why" I asked.

He looked at me and then shuffled through the tome until he found the page he was looking for, and pointed his long bony finger at a rune that was shaped what probably looked like a balloon with three sticks

"This rune was carved on that wand, but this is the only one, even Edwardollivanderr could not figure out what it meant" he told me.

And I realized he was right, as in front of the rune was one word, ""UNKNOWN"".

I couldn't believe it, the lack of understanding of one rune was what prevented me from crafting the strongest wand in existence.

 **-FLASHBACK ENDS**

The sound of clapping brought his attention to the ancient wand maker standing behind him, with a look of pride on his face.

"That was a very powerful piece of magic Perseus" he said, not at all fazed by the harsh weather.

"Thank you, probably all thanks to this extraordinary wand "Perseus replied as he stole a glance at the powerful wand in his hands, made from the hybrid wood of ebony and Australian Blackwood. It was of the darkest shade of black. Ebony being the only wood that has the same affinity for all the elements and Blackwood which is the only wood that is excellent for both light and dark magic. And this hybrid wood has taken after its parent woods in these regards.

It had a piece of amethyst in the handle, amethyst being the only gemstone that can boost not only lethal and destructive spells but also healing spells. The core of the wand was the feather of a Thunderbird, and the shell of the wand was done by mithril, which gave it a magnificent look.

15 inch long, with a 2 inch metal band of silver around the wand between the handle and the stem, the silver metal was infused with a specific runic array, the same which was deciphered from the elder wand by Edward ollivanderr .

His mind wandered to the day when I had finally solved the mystery of the unknown rune in Edward's book.

As it was, the word unknown didn't mean that the meaning of the rune was not known to Edward , he had simply translated the original runic array from the elder wand to futhark runes, which was not very uncommon at that time, in this runic language the number 7 , due to being shrouded by mystery is known as just 'unknown'.

The secret was hidden in the plain sight, it's just that no one ever figured it out, as everyone thought that the rune's meaning was unknown to Edward ollivander.  
When he had tried to tell teacher about his discovery, he asked Perseus not to tell him, and to keep it a secret and to take it to his grave.

Perseus then did the same runic array on my wand, but in a different runic language, a language which hardly anyone knows, _Parsel Runes_. But another thing that made it different from the elder wand was that this wand was bound to me by magic and blood. So no matter what, in the hands of another wizard, it would just be a piece of wood.

But Perseus had made an addition to the runic array, one that was his teacher's invention but he had never commercialized it. A complex runic set which once activated by the caster using any spell, the wand would keep on shooting that spell in rapid succession with amazing speed , until the caster deactivated the runes or dropped the wand.

Perseus had tried that feature using a ' _proiectum'_ spell and his wand shot forth arrows with such speed that reminded Perseus of the muggle machine gun. He had went one step further and altered that rune set a bit and as a result if he so desire to he could shoot maximum seven of any spell at once.

His returned to the present when his teacher said

"This wand is indeed powerful, the most powerful wand I have ever seen no doubt about that, but it's not just the wand that is extraordinary, Perseus, you are an extraordinary wizard "

"no it'—"he started off.

"No listen Perseus, I am not talking about your powers, or your knowledge of even the most obscure magic. "He said cutting him short and said again

" I am talking about your will , about your determination, for you have mastered the art of wand crafting, metal charming and weapon forging in just 5 months, that is an extraordinary feat .and a testament of your dedication and I know you can achieve anything if you put your mind into it. "He finished.

And he was right indeed, Perseus was now able to enchant metals using runes and spells and could forge weapons, which rivaled the goblin made weapons. he had forged a blade for myself, it was 3 feet long sword with a double-edged Stygian iron blade etched with mithril, a dragon hide leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with silver and etched with the markings 'Toujours pur'. With his name "Perseus black" engraved just above the hilt in silver.

It was the first weapon that had actually felt balanced in his hand. It was forged in Gubraithian fire and cooled in the elixir of _fortitudine_ , producing a clean indestructible blade. It had properties of goblin made weapons and would take on the power of any substance it touches . While the Stygian Iron could actually absorb or destroy a being's essence.

The blade was also enchanted and it was linked to the ring he now wore on the index finger of his left hand by an advance summoning magic, which allowed him to summon it in a second. The other enchantment on the sword being that to him it weigh about 5 pounds but for someone else, it would be impossible to lift the sword, let alone use it.

"Thank you teacher" he said," I was fortunate enough to learn from you"

"Very well then Perseus, it's time for you to return, there is nothing left for me to teach you "he said with pride in his voice

"Hmm, then Sir what fees do I owe youPerseuss asked

"Fees? I don't understand" he said coyly .

"You are not the only one to follow traditions, I too follow traditions of old, and it's a rule for an apprentice to pay his master with whatever he may desire as fees."Perseuss replied

"I don't need any payment, my boy, to have an apprentice like you, who mastered everything I know, in just 5 months, what else I can ask for." He said. "But I must ask one thing from you".

"Name it "Perseus said.

"A promise, that whatever you have learnt from me, you will not teach any of it to anyone, save your own blood. "He said

Perseus looked at him, it's an odd thing to ask as payment, but nonetheless, he complied and said

" I give you my words".

"And Perseus, before we part ways. You wanted to know about valyrian steel." he asked.

He nodded; all he knew about valyrian steel was that it forged in the days of the mighty **dark elves**. It was exceptionally sharp and tremendously strong, yet light, keeping its edge and requiring no maintenance. It is said that the valyrian steel could destroy anything and could kill any being. It was even superior to goblin made steel.

If legends are to be believed, the valyrian steel if carved with certain set of runes can absorb and store infinite amount of magic and can subsequently unleash the stored magic.

"All I was able to gather is that it is an alloy of dragonglass , Orichalcum and magic. Although I have both dragonglass and Orichalcum, the problem is no one knows the ratio of these two to make valyrian steel, as the knowledge of forging a valyrian steel weapon has been lost to time" he said.

"Orichalcum is said to be found at the bottom of the deepest seas, the pressure created by the water naturally created the metal over thousands of years, only to be found by the Atlantians. it was created because of a phenomenon of nature. It sparked many wars between the dwarves and the Goblins over who would control ores which housed the rare metal...Perseuss stated

, "Dragonglass. Frozen fire, in the tongue of dark elves, forged in the fires of the elves, far below the earth. They hunted with that, thousands of years ago. They worked no metal . . . In place of swords, they carried blades of obsidian." he finished.

"yes correct , but that's not the only problem, there is no fire that can burn hot enough and long enough in controlled manner to melt these metals. Some wizards have tried to use fiendfire , but. They just ended up burning everything around them. "the old wizard finished

"Oh, I am sure, I will figure something out" Perseus replied.

"Oh I know you will, that is why I have given you all of Orichalcum and dragon steel I had. "He said.

"Thank you for that again , teacher" Perseus said in gratitude.

"very well then Perseus, here is your portkey to take you to you to Black manor", he said handing him a piece of cloth," your grandfather must be dying to meet you, goodbye, and I wish you the very best in life".

The portkey activated before he could even reply and the old wand crafter was standing alone atop the cliff.

* * *

Far away, in the master bedroom of Potter manor, lily potter's screams could be heard even in the manor grounds. James potter winced slightly as his wife tightened her grip on his wrist, she then screamed loudly for the final time and then the cries of a newborn echoed in the room.

The healers cleaned the newborn baby and wrapped it in a large towel cloth, just as two people entered the room, Remus Lupin and Charles Potter.

Healer Andromeda tonks then handed what appeared to be a bundle of cloth to lily and james potter and said," it's a beautiful and a healthy baby girl, lily, James, congratulations".

"She is so beautiful lily" said James in a chocked voice.

"Yes, that she is James, "lily said, "come here Charles, and meet you little sister" she said to her son.

"She is so tiny" Charles said in wonder, as he adjusted his spectacles.

"So were you, when you were born Charles "said the godfather of the boy-who-lived, Remus Lupin.

"Have you decided upon a name" asked Andromeda, at which everyone looked at lily.

Lily potter looked at the wide, blue eyes of the newborn in her arm," Iris "she said, "Iris potter ".

And for the first time since that fateful Halloween night, fortune had smiled upon the potter family.

And lily potter again thought of her eldest son, and vowed to herself to find him.  
Unknown to her, the newborn daughter she held in her arms would one day become the link between the potter family and her long lost son.

* * *

 **so guys what do you think.**

 **Please review and if you have any doubt just ask away**

 **please** **review, it means a lot**

 **And once again I apologize in advance for any spelling error, I am still looking for a beta reader**

 **laters**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **FIRST IMPRESSIONS**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE-**

 **Ohk here is the next chapter, as promised .** **Enjoy this chapter.**

" **csgkhskfh" conversation  
'hgkfhfefefh' thoughts  
** _jfkfkfhschkchc-_ **sorting hat**

* * *

A moment later Perseus appeared just outside the wards of the black manor, he looked at the sight in front of him, the black manor sat gloriously amidst the valley, a stream flowed from the mountains which then divided into two sub-streams and went around the manor , one on each and again merged in such a way that the manor and its vast surrounding land was surrounded by the water body in a circle. The stream was also a major water source of the inhabitants of the forest, many of which were magical.

He crossed the drawbridge and entered into a wide driveway.. The high hedge curved with him, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring his way. He stood in front of the gate for a second and then walked right through them, the gate appeared to be naught but an illusion, but Perseus knew that the gate would block anyone other than those keyed into the wards. A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing

He shook his head, once again stunned by the opulent magnificence of Black Manor. It suited the moniker, a handsome manor house surrounded by elaborate gardens, including a fountain. The front door swung inward as he approached without anyone visibly opening it. The large hallway, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering the stone floor. The walls of the entrance hall displayed pale-faced portraits lining the walls . Black Manor had been built quite some time ago, the art of such construction now mostly lost.

"rokky" he called out .

Instantly a little creature with large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis ball appeared with a pop, rokky was his personal house elf. He was wearing a white tunic of sorts.

"Master Perseus is back, is master fine? "he asked in a happy tone bouncing all the while .

"Yes, rokky, I am fine, thank you." Perseus said. he had always treated the house elves of the blacks with affection , and these elves reciprocated it and cared for him deeply , rokky was quite unhappy when he was informed that he won't be serving Perseus while he was under the tutelage of the ancient wand-maker.

" where is grandfather." he asked.

"Lord black has gone out, "he replied.

"Out?" Perseus asked, at which the elf replied." Did he say where?"

"no master, lord black did not. "He said

"very well then, when he comes, inform him about my return, I am really tired so I am going to get some rest".Perseus said as he climbed the staircase and moved towards the wide corridor on the first floor and entered his room. He changed into his nightwear and climbed into the bed and he was soon sound asleep. After all the hard work he has done in the last five months, he deserved the rest.

* * *

Perseus woke up from his slumber the next day, did a quick tempus charm and which showed him it was 9 in the morning. He freshened up and glanced outside the window, and what he saw made him curious, his grandfather was having tea with a woman in the patio. He dressed up and went to meet his grandfather.

Lord Black stopped talking when he saw his young charge walking towards them. He took in his appearance , the change Perseus has gone through over the last five months was obvious, his height and shoulder length hair were almost the same , his movement were even more graceful .

'if he wears a robe, it will appear like he is gliding' he thought. But the most obvious change was his eyes, while before they radiated power and Arcturus had often witnessed those emerald green eyes glowing whenever Perseus got angry. The anger and rage was still there, but now it was more controlled, those eyes now radiated knowledge along with power,

"Welcome back , Perseus," the lord black said as he got up from his chair and moved to embrace his heir .

"it's good to be back , grandfather" Perseus replied, as he hugged him back then he stole a glance at his grandfather's visitor ,She appeared to be in her late thirties , but one can never be sure in case of wizards and witches . She had light brown hair, Framed by trademark high cheekbones and picturesque pale skin, she has the face of a pureblooded daughter, even if it is rather forgettable. Soft and wide eyes. She was tall and bore the patrician beauty common to the Black family. And he knew at once who she was. She looked a lot like bellatrix lestrange and perseus knew too well how she looked like from voldermort's knowledge.

"Perseus, I want you to meet someone "Arcturus said as he motioned towards her, "this is-"

"Andromeda tonks "Perseus said, finishing his sentence. Both Arcturus and Andromeda were surprised, the former less than the latter as he was used to his heir's astute observation skills.

"yes, and Dromeda, child, this, is Perseus" Arcturus introduced him," the heir to the house of black". He finished, with a somewhat proud look.

"Pleasure to meet you my lady "Perseus said with a short bow.

The said lady just looked at him with wonder, but then composed herself. And said with an obvious fake shock in her voice

"ohh, a black with manners ,now that's something new, no need to be so formal young man" .

Andromeda tonks took pride in the fact that she was not easily surprise but even she was rendered stunned for a moment when she met the Black scion. Then she looked into his eyes, and she felt a shiver run down her spine, for the eyes of Perseus black were the same shade of green as that of the killing curse. She wanted to ask Arcturus who were the parents of this young man, but she didn't know how to do so without offending him. But then she composed just smirked when she asked again,

"you said 'good to be back', so where have you returned from, you must have been away for a long time for grandfather to lose control of his emotions."

Perseus was about to reply but his grandfather beat him to it," oh Perseus has been learning from none other than silas ollivander, the art of wand crafting and-"

"and this and that" Perseus cut him short and gave his grandfather a pointed look .

"wow, that's realy amazing , "Andromeda replied ," and hard to believe" she added.

"Indeed" Perseus replied, "Perhaps a demonstration is in order" he finished as he raised his left hand which held a wand, Andromeda's wand to be exact.

And for the second time in just 5 minutes Andromeda was left stunned.,"how, how -".

"How did I get your wand?" Perseus asked, at Andromeda's nod, he replied," well it has a very simple explanation, I am Perseus black".

He then gave her an amused yet a teasing grin, "anyway" he said," nine and a quarter inches, unicorn hair and black walnut combination , it makes for an excellent, flexible wand for charms and intricate wand work." He said, but just to yank her chain he continued ,

" The wand can tell a lot about its owner , Mrs. tonks, the wood of your wand must have reassured you of your place in the world even more .it must have been surely fate that a Slytherin, and a Black of all people, would get a _black_ walnut wand."

Perseus saw her narrow her eyes ," however" he continued before she could interrupt him,

" despite its name, black walnut wands are actually far more attuned to the light side than the dark and are often attributed to people of a subtle nature." Perseus then looked at the wand for a few more seconds before he spoke again,

"from the type and amount of magic that has flowed through the wand, I can deduce the profession of its owner. Healer tonks." he finished with a challenging tone.

Andromeda was shocked, how was it possible for an 11 year old boy , to have mastered the art of wand crafting, and she knew from the way Perseus had interrupted Arcturus earlier that he has learned more than just wand crafting.

"That was brilliant, "was all Andromeda could say.

"Indeed, now enough about me, what have you been up to grandfather, mending broken relations ? " he asked in an impassive tone.

"hahha , you see Perseus, Andromeda's mother might have disowned her, but as the head of the family only I can disown someone from the house " he said and again looked at Andromeda

.

"You didn't disown me grandfather, and I am grateful for that , but you were never in support of my decision to marry ted . You too hated muggles and despised muggleborns, then what changed ?" she asked in a cold voice.

"Perseus" replied Arcturus after a long pause, and Perseus looked at him in surprise," it was Perseus who made me realize that some of the traditions and belief we hold so close to our heart are useless. and finally in this old age when I think about it , I feel sad to know that I am responsible for the state our house is now in. and I wish to reprimand those mistakes in the small time I am left with " he finished.

"Good to know that grandfather, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that" she said, and then she looked at Perseus.

"So you ready to go to Hogwarts then "she asked.

"Absolutely" Perseus replied," just waiting for the letter"

"If you need any help , you can meet my daughter anytime you want , she will begin her sixth year this term." She said, "but I somehow doubt that you would need any help" she finished and gave him a knowing look.

"Thank you, Mrs. tonks" Perseus replied

"No need for formalities, Perseus, call me Andromeda", she said," and I think I should be going now, grandfather, it was good to meet you Perseus, "

And with that she walked towards the boundary of the wards and disapparated . as the two blacks watched her departure and waved her goodbye.

* * *

It was three days later when lord black saw Perseus who has been holed up in his room for all this time, sitting on his bed, with a very thoughtful expression, staring at the Hogwarts letter that he had received that morning.

"Checking it for traps" he asked.

Perseus glanced at his grandfather and said, "no , just thinking".

"Thinking what ?" he asked

"Weather to attend Hogwarts or not" he said, now that troubled Arcturus.

"And what prompted you to have second thoughts " Arcturus said.

"I have gone through the syllabus of Hogwarts, it's not much , I don't think Hogwarts have much to offer to me," he said," I want to travel , learn magic of distant lands"

"Perseus" Arcturus said, as he sat on the bed," it's not just knowledge that matters in life."

Perseus was about to show his disagreement with the statement but Arcturus continued," no no, hear me out first, the syllabus of Hogwarts, that's not all Hogwarts has to offer, remember Hogwarts has produce lot of average witches and wizards but has also given the world some of the strongest wizards of all time. knowledge is like a river Perseus, you drink as much as you can, it depends on one's capability , and Hogwarts is like a sea of knowledge." He said.

"knowledge matters I agree but You will realize in due time, that there are other things that also affect your life, one goes to a school not just to acquire knowledge but one also gets to make friends, allies, a chance to leave your mark on the world, maybe even more, after all I did met my wife, Melania at Hogwarts only." He said with a fond smile" think about it before you make your decision"

Whatever Arcturus had said must have done away with Perseus doubts as he said" you are right, grandfather"

"You still have something on your mind, child" lord black asked.

Perseus hesitated for a moment but then said," yes, it's just that, I was wondering what would my life be like have you not adopted me, maybe, I would just be a kid in the orphanage."

"I cannot say what your life would have been like, if that were to happen, but I am sure of two things , " he said," firstly I would have been robbed of the opportunity to get to know you and to see you grow into a wonderful boy , and secondly , you would have still been a great wizard." He finished.

Arcturus then quickly opened the Hogwarts acceptance letter that was labeled 'Mr P. Black, 14 Black Manor, Nigrum valley, Wales', he quickly skimmed through it and found exactly what he expected to be written inside:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Mr Black,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September (or when you happen to register). We await your owl by no Later then 31st of July._

 _Yours Sincerely_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

 _HOWGARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Uniform_

 _First year students will require:_

 _Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

 _Please not that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

 _Set Books_

 _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 _Other Equipment_

 _1 wand_

 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl, cat or toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

"thank you," Perseus said as he saw his grandfather skim through the letter, "I was thinking of going for shopping for school supplied today , if that's alright with you, " seeing him about to interrupt he said " I know you have a wizengamot session to attend , but I can go alone, I will be fine, trust me."

"oh I know you will be alright" After a moment Arcturus said,"ohk then, we both must get going"

"oh and one more thing," Perseus said" I have to discuss certain matters with you," Perseus finished.

"ohh me too, shall we talk in the evening" he asked.

"fine by me" Perseus replied as he got up from the bed and made his way for the floo.

It was nearly half an hours after perseus had first entered Gringotts that he found himself standing outside of it's doors once more. The sunlight hit his face, forcing him to squint due to how much time he had spent in the darkened passageways where his vaults were held.

Taking out the Hogwarts letter from within his back pack, perseus pulled out and unfolded the second piece of paper that he had found attached to the first. It was a list of all the things he was required to buy for Hogwarts:

perseus frowned as he looked at the list. He turned his head to look at the back pack on his back, and then back at the list. There was no way he would be able to fit all of that in his back pack, it was nowhere near large enough.

Blowing out a soft breath, Perseus decided that the first thing he would need was a trunk to carry everything in. Fortunately for him, he had seen a place that sold trunks on the way to Gringotts.

Perseus black entered the shop known as _Truckle's Trunks_ , and took a look around the basic looking shop. Well, he assumed it was a basic looking shop for a magical store selling trunks. It was quite a bit larger on the inside than the outside, at least a dozen square meters, something that Perseus picked up on immediately. There were several isles, and each one contained rows upon rows of various trunks of all shapes, sizes and colors. Some of them were floating, a few were opening and closing. Perseus even saw one that looked like it was undulating. Shaking his head at the unusual sight, and bothered that he couldn't for the life of him figure out how something such as a trunk could undulate, he made his way to the desk where a middle aged man was sitting behind a cash register.

"Excuse me," Perseus called out in a confident voice. The man with slightly graying hair looked down at him, blinking. Perseus ignored the inquisitive and slightly incredulous stare and continued. "I'm looking for a trunk."

"Well you've come to the right place," the man said with a smile. "You are a Hogwarts student, yes? A third year?"

"no first year" Perseus replied which surprised the shopkeeper a bit but then he said with a nod.

"All of our standard trunks cost fifty galleons, if you want them to be made with something other than leather you will need to specify what you want it made from."

"I was actually thinking of getting a custom made trunk," Perseus told the man, interrupting the older male's sales pitch.

"A custom, eh?" the man's eyes lit up a bit, and Perseus could detect the greed in them. Custom trunks must be expensive, he mused. It almost made him wonder why this man assumed Perseus could actually afford the trunk when he was so young, but realized that he was wearing his signet ring of the heir of the house . "Well, what exactly are you looking for?"

Perseus was silent for a moment as he tried to decide what he wanted.

"I would like a five compartment trunk. What sizes do your compartments come in?"

"We have three sizes, standard, that is to say, the average size one would expect from a trunk with no magical enchantments. Our next size is what we call closet sized, which is about the size of a walk in closet. And finally, we have our largest size, apartment sized."

Biting his lower lip for a moment, Perseus pondered which size he should get. He didn't want the standard, as he would not be able to carry very much in them, and considering where he was going and what he would be doing, one never knew what sorts of interesting items he might pick up. That left closet size and apartment size. A part of him wanted to go for the apartment size, but having four compartments the size of an apartment seemed a little excessive, not to mention it was probably pricey, and while he didn't have any shortage of money, he had never been what one would call wasteful.

"I'll go with the closet size for all five compartments," Perseus decided. He doubted he would need to something bigger, and on the off chance that he ever needed a trunk with a larger compartment, he could just come back and buy another trunk he reasoned.

"Very well, and what would you like your trunk to be made of?"

A pause. Perseus tilted his head, considering.

"What are my options?"

"Well," the man started, rubbing his hands together in undisguised glee. "We have all the normal materials, leather, wood and such, but we also have several types of dragon-hide available as well, including Hungarian Horntail, Norwegian Ridgeback, Hebridean Black, and Ukrainian Ironbelly."

'Well, all dragon-hides are magic resistant. You can cast just about any spell at them short of a dark curse and they won't even receive a scratch. Dragon-hide is also much tougher than normal materials, strong as steel in some cases, such as with the Ukrainian Ironbelly. Course, the hide of a Ukrainian Ironbelly is much heavier than anything else, so it's a trade off.' Perseus thought.

"Then why don't we go with a happy medium? I want something durable, but not something that's too heavy for me to lift."

"In that case, why don't we go with the dragon-hide of a Norwegian Ridgeback?" the man suggested. "They're hides are more durable than the Hebridean Black's and the Horntails, but not nearly as heavy as either of them. Definitely one of the better choices, I believe."

Perseus thought for a moment, before nodding. "Very well, we'll go with that. Now what about security?"

"Security?" the shop keeper blinked, confused.

"Yes," Perseus replied. "I don't want people trying to get into my trunk without permission."

"Ah, well, all our trunks come standard with a magical lock," the man answered. "It requires you to speak a password in order to open."

Perseus raised an eyebrow. "Are there no other options available?"

"None, I'm afraid," the man shifted uncomfortably.

"Very well," Perseus sighed, he had been hoping for something a bit more secure, like a lock that could only be opened with his own blood, or something of the sort. But if he had no other option then that's what he would go with, at least until he could create his own security. "I believe that will suffice. Now all we need to discuss is the cost and how long it will take for my trunk to be made."

"You're in luck," the man replied, grabbing the wand from the desk and making a swish and flick motion. perseus watched as a trunk made of a brown material that looked like leathery scales floated over to them. It set down directly in front of Perseus, and the older male set his wand back onto the desk. "I already have a trunk with the exact specifications you are looking for."

Well that was convenient, though Perseus assumed the man likely had many such trunks that were pre-made to fit exact specifications so anyone looking to buy a custom made trunk wouldn't have to wait.

"The trunk will cost two thousand five hundred galleons," the man told him. Perseus raised an eyebrow at the price, noticing just how much more expensive getting a custom made trunk was from getting a standard trunk. This made him realize that it was highly unlikely that anyone except for maybe himself, and a few of the children from an Ancient and Most Noble family would have something like this. Still, he had more than enough money, and it wasn't like he had no intention of using his trunk to it's fullest. He then pulled out his wand and waved it at his new trunk, immediately his name " PERSEUS ARIES BLACK" were engraved over it along with the coat of Armour of the house of black and the word "TUJORUS PUR" engraved under it.

Reaching into his back pack, he pulled out the pouch inside of it that had been magically expanded to carry more money inside of it than he could possible carry on hand. He gave the man two thousand five hundred galleons, a not insignificant sum but not enough to even put a dent into the amount he had, and left with his new trunk in tow. The shopkeeper was stunned by the casual display of magic by the young wizard, he was even more surprised and wary when he noticed his name.

"Have a great day," Perseus said, as he left a shocked shopkeeper behind.

It would not be a surprise to anyone who knew Perseus that his first stop after receiving his trunk was the book store, _Flourish and Blotts_. Those who knew him knew that Perseus had an insatiable desire to learn. His grandfather had said it best when she had once commented that he was practically married to his books when he had spent an entire day at the library reading.

Flourish and Blotts was a lot different than any other book store or library he had ever been in. Like the trunk store this one was also much larger on the inside then it was on the outside, it looked to be around two or three times the size of the trunk store. All around the shop Perseus could see rows upon rows of books. It looked like the books were organized categorically by subject. Charms. Transfiguration. Defense Against the Dark Arts and so on.

After purchasing all the books on his school list, he purchased the rest of the series of the 'Standard book of Spells' as well as books on advanced Transfiguration theory, battle Transfiguration manuals, advanced Charms and spell, and several texts on Runes and their application. Perseus spent more money on books than some people had ever spent in their life.

The next shop on Perseus's list of places to go was none other than _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions._ There, he got his first sight of the owner of the store, Madam Malkin. She was a rather squat witch, dressed in a mauve robe, and giving him a pleasant smile. While she looked a little odd in Perseus's opinion, being so short and all, he couldn't help but decide he liked this woman. And if nothing else, at least she took better care of her appearance than those other witches he had met in the Leaky Cauldron did.

"aah Mr. Black , Hogwarts uniform dear?" asked the woman, her kind smile still in place.

Perseus nodded. "Yes."

"We've had quite a few Hogwarts students coming in today," the woman said. "In fact, there's a young lady being fitted up just now."

In the back of the shop, a young girl with slightly curly brown hair that was currently tied into a pony-tail, bright brown eyes, and a pretty smile was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up her long black robes. Madam Malkin made Perseus stand on the stool next to her, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hi!" The girl greeted him in a voice that was every bit as cheerful as her smile. "Are you going to Hogwarts too?"

"That's right," Perseus told her with a smile of his own, his mind and demeanor easily slipping into that of the polite and helpful boy. "From how excited you are I take it you're a first year?"

"That's right," the girl said with a nod. "What year are you in?"

"First year."

"Really?" The girl looked at him wide eyed. She eyed him up and down, and as she did, her cheeks gained a bit of color. Perseus frowned when he saw her staring at him, it almost looked like she was eyeing him through the robe. "You don't look like a fist year," she mumbled to herself.

"I get that a lot," Perseus admitted, and the mild blush that had been staining the girl's cheeks spread to the rest of her face as she realized she had not only been caught staring at him, but also hadn't been as quiet as she should have been.

The frown marring Perseus's face deepened for a moment as he wondered why the girl seemed so embarrassed. It's not like she hadn't said anything he had never heard before. Or maybe it had something to do with how she had got caught staring at him?

Well, whatever. It wasn't like it really mattered in the end. Shrugging the thought of as irrelevant, he decided to restart the conversation by steering it towards the one thing they had in common. The new school they would both soon be going to.

"So are you excited to be going to Hogwarts?"

"You bet I am!" the girl replied, enthused, her bright smile returning again. It was almost amusing how she seemed to bounce from embarrassed to excited so quickly, a thought that Perseus wisely kept to himself. "So what house do you think you'll be in?"

"I'm not sure," Perseus admitted, almost tempted to shrug, but held himself back for fear of accidentally getting stuck with a needle while Madam Malkin was fitting his robes. "

"ohh ok" the girl said. Not giving him a chance to respond, she said, "Both of my parents were in Gryffindor, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's where I'll end up. I suppose I will go to whichever house they put me in." She paused for a moment, then asked, "are you a pure-blood then?"

"yes" Perseus told her. "Not that it matters."

At that the girl flashed him a grin. "oh I am a half blood, My mum was a muggle-born while my father was pure-blood."

"So what House do you think you'll be in?"

"Well," the girl actually seemed to think for a moment, before shrugging. "I'm not really sure, I would say Gryffindor, since my parents were in that Houses, but the truth is nobody really knows they'll be sorted until after the sorting. I just hope I'm not in Hufflepuff."

"And what's wrong with being sorted into Hufflepuff?" asked Perseus.

"Don't you know?" the girl asked, before hurrying on with the answer before Perseus could say anything to the question that was obviously rhetorical. "Hufflepuff's supposed to be the house of cowards and left overs. No one who goes to Hogwarts ever wants to go there."

The girl was leaning towards him slightly, as if what she was telling him was some great secret. Which would explain why she had missed the look of anger on the face of the young woman pinning up her robes. However, while the girl missed it, but someone of Perseus's observation skill saw it easily

"You were in Hufflepuff, weren't you?" Perseus asked of the young woman. The girl's head turned in surprise as she looked at the woman pinning up her robes. Said woman gave the brunette a cold smile.

"Yes," she answered Perseus's question. "I was one of those... left overs, as you called them."

"Urk," the girl made a strangled sound and her face began to pale, all except for her cheeks, which reddened as she realized her mistake. "Uh... I'm really sorry about that..." The woman huffed, but didn't say anything further as she continued working on the robes.

"You really should learn to be more careful when you speak," Perseus admonished lightly. "You never know when someone around you might be insulted by what you say. Also, you probably shouldn't judge a person based on what House they go into. Preconceptions about someone based upon where they are sorted can lead to making assumptions based out of ignorance, which could lead to a confrontation if you're not careful and insult the wrong person. " here he gave a slight pause and then said again

"Personally I believe, of all the founders, only Helga huffelpus was a true teacher, for a teacher does not discriminate amongst their students "

"Yes mum," the girl said with a slight roll of her eyes. As the worker gave Perseus a surprised look.

"You may roll your eyes now," Perseus spoke with a tone of warning, "but when you end up inadvertently insulting someone again just remember that I told you so."

The girl sighed. "Yeah I get it." She grimaced. "You're probably right anyways. My dad always said that I should learn to think before I speak." Which was exactly what Perseus said just a few moments ago, said raven haired youth noted with amusement.

"Your dad sounds like a smart man," Perseus said, getting the girl to stick her tongue out at him. He chuckled a bit at the childish return.

"That's you done, dear," Madam Malkin said, interrupting any further attempt at conversation. Perseus nodded and hopped of the stool.

"Do you think I could also get several sets of dress robes?" asked Perseus

"Of course," Madam Malkin smiled at him. "Just tell me how many, what colors, and what you would like them made out of."

"I want three, two black and one dark green," Perseus began.

"I would like all of my dress robes made in Acromantula silk," Perseus told the woman, shocking both her and the girl that had been listening – eavesdropping – on the conversation.

Acromantula silk was the best material to make robes out of. If it weren't for the fact that Perseus didn't want to seem like some kind of rich snob, he would have probably even considered using Acromantula silk for all of his robes.

"Very well," Madam Malkin quickly recovered her smile and pleasant demeanor. "The dress robes will take a while, but they should be done in a day or so if you would like to come back then. Or I can have them sent to the black Manor."

"send them to the manor" Perseus replied

"Of course. Have a pleasant day, dear."

"And you as well," Perseus gave her a small bow of the head, then turned to look at the brunette who was only just now recovering from her shock of someone spending over six hundred galleons on dress robes. "I'm sure we'll see each other at Hogwarts."

"Right. I'll see you around then." The girl waved at him as Perseus walked out of the store.

The next few stops consisted of him stocking up on his potions ingredients at an Apothecary that smelt so bad that his eyes watered from the stench of the combined ingredients. He definitely appreciated the art that was potion's making, but he could never really find any joy with working with some of the most disgusting ingredients on the planet, despite knowing that it was a necessity.

He also stopped at the Astronomy store to purchase a top of the line telescope for his star gazing activities at school. The telescope had several different settings that allowed him to gaze further than any regular muggle telescope could hope to see, there was even a function that mapped out constellations and drew them for you as you gazed through the eyepiece.

He then made his way for a very familiar shop , As soon as Perseus entered the stall, there was a tinkle of a bell from above indicating to whoever owned the store that they had a customer. Surprisingly enough, the small dusty stall was empty currently, despite all the children his age outside running around getting supplies.

" aah back again, Mr. Black , I know you are not here for a wand, because I am sure as of now you know as much about wands as I do, perhaps you would be interested in buying a wand hostler ." Came the voice of the old wandmaker.

"Nice to meet you too Mr. ollivander, I already made a wand hostler for myself "Perseus replied ,"how are you doing".

"aah fine , " he replied," so can I see it?" he asked in an childish glee.

Perseus whipped out his wand and offered it to Mr. ollivander ,"simply amazing, a hybrid wood, and the feather of a thunderbird . I can sense that there are runes on it but surprisingly I can't read them. This is a very powerful wand Mr. black, having affinities for all branches of magic. This is probably the most powerful wand I have ever seen, you have become an excellent wand crafter and I hope for the sake of my business that you are not planning on setting up a competition." he finished.

"No no Mr. ollivander I have no such intentions" Perseus assured him and just then the bell behind him tinkled and a girl entered the shop accompanied by her father probably.

"I will take my leave then Mr. ollivander, "Perseus said.

"Good bye Perseus." He replied as Perseus left the shop.

Humming to himself Perseus wandered down to the entrance of Knockturn Alley. He eyed the different stores as he walked. Most of them were shops a bit more specialized and smaller than those in Diagon. There was a shop with music instruments and an optician, a few shops specialized in working equipment for different jobs, a second hand bookstore and another apothecary that interestingly enough looked a lot cleaner than the one in Diagon Alley. He had reached the clothing store and took a last look towards the end of Knockturn Alley. The more distant the shops were to the entrance the more run-down and dark they seemed. He didn't find anything he couldn't get his hand on any other way so he left.

* * *

"so Perseus , what did you have to discuss with me" Arcturus asked him as they both sat in his room.

"A couple of things grandfather, "he said." first is a possible business venture" he finished. As he handed his grandfather a silver snitch, which had a crystal in it, he then waved his hand and motioned towards a six by six mirror that was at the other side of the room.

He then tapped the snitch and suddenly the crystal started glowing and simultaneously the mirror started showing the view that the snitch was covering.

"I got this idea from watching a muggle television, the mirror and the snitch are linked and runes have been drawn upon them to achieve this particular effect. This can be a huge business venture, we can sell them to the people who host tournaments, quditch world cup and much more.' He said.

Arcturus looked at the screen for over a minute in wonder and then at Perseus and then sai

" this is an amazing invention Perseus , and you are indeed right, this can be very profitable, I will have it patented and it will be in the market in about a year, we can launch this in the world cup. "he finished as he beamed at Perseus.

"So what did you want to talk about" Perseus asked his grandfather.

"you do know that I won an order of Merlin, first class. " he said. To which perseus replied in a well rehearsed manner

"Yes, Oceania is a small island country, one of the very few all-magical country, and also one of the very few to have a monarchy system. In 1931, you defeated the king of Oceania and his army in a battle because they were aiding the dark lord grindelwald .and as per the international rights of contest you became the king of that small island kingdom , but you never accepted that position, instead you became a interim king of sorts."Perseus then said again said,

" and for your bravery and valor the ministry bestowed upon you the order of Merlin, first class . And to this day you handle the affairs of that country. Did I get it all? "He asked

"yes you did, now I will be visiting Oceana for a few days in October, but I wanted you to visit too, so we will probably visit in the near future, for you have to learn all about it., if you are to rule it one day " he said" what do you think" he asked

"Grandfather, I somehow doubt I am fit to rule a nation, nor I am a ruler material, but we will visit nonetheless ." Perseus replied.

"Brilliant, now it's getting late, you must rest now "he said. And with that they both went to our respective rooms. But Perseus didn't go to bed immediately.

Once inside his room, Perseus faced the wall on the right side and pressed his palm on the wall, and a second later the wall sprung aside, creating a path for another room , made of rocks. It was a ritual room.

Perseus was going to perform his first rituals. Most rituals yield best results when done before the attaining maturity . like strengthening rituals, ritual to increase the basic size of one's magic core, one to increase senses. But alas most wizards only acquire that knowledge very late in life. Perseus had the knowledge of rituals that voldemort has used , but he won't be doing the dark rituals.

Rituals are a combination of Potions and Runes, using blood as the main source to power them. This is also sometimes referred to as Blood Magic. Rituals can be used to alter your body or your magic. Senses of a werewolf, strength of a giant, speed of a cheetah, they are all within the realm of possibility.

It was going to be a very simple piece, a few cuts and runes that would be carved lightly into his skin, and Perseus would have to push the bloodmagic that he was familiar with into the cuts as he made them. The patterns and runes that he cut would determine what the piece would do, and the bloodmagic that he pushed into and imbued inside the cuts and slices would power the piece. It would take a small bit of magic to always power the bloodmagic piece, but Perseus would get used to constantly powering it after a few days. And after he was used to it his magic would be slightly stronger than it was before.

He had decided what his first piece should be, it would be a simple piece that would help improve his physical strength, making Perseus stronger than before, more agile and would improve his reflexes. He would later add on more pieces to this 'set' of bloodmagic, as it was called.

Multiple pieces of bloodmagic that all built on each other to achieve the same purpose to a greater sum were called a 'set'.

Looking at his notebook that he had taken down notes in Perseus took one last look at the diagram of the human body that was on one of the pages. He had carefully traced and planned out exactly how each line and rune would be sized and where it would be located on his body.

The trick was that during the ritual the knife could not leave his skin. This was because as the 'caster' performed the bloodmagic and was embedding magic into the fresh cuts and runes it was important that the magic be in one consistent line, and not broken up into pieces. If it was broken up into pieces it was highly unstable, and would almost instantaneously fail catastrophically.

It was imperative that the knife did not break contact with his skin as he performed the ritual. It would be difficult at first, it was unnatural and unnerving to cut oneself in such a cold and calculated manner.

The first ritual that a person performed was one of the most dangerous, with the exception of a few higher level and higher expertise rituals that combined other schools of magic such as Necromancy. These rituals were highly dangerous, and required the 'caster' to be well versed in both potions and runes.

But the legality, or lack thereof, did not bother Perseus, at least not for bloodmagic. Bloodmagic, if he was good at it, would be incredibly beneficial for him to learn. It would give him a physical edge over someone without bloodmagic, and it would also give him a better connection to his magic, make him stronger magically, and also it would give him unique attributes and abilities if he went to a high enough level with bloodmagic.

Tossing aside his notebook, he was confident that he had a firm grasp on exactly what he needed to do for this ritual, Perseus picked up the ritual knife made of mithril that he has gotten from the black family vault.

Taking one last deep breath before making the very first cut into his palm Perseus exhaled. He cut a reasonably deep gash into his left palm, and then smeared it in a circle all around where he was sitting, pushing the reddish gold magic into his blood, and as it settled slightly it became more of a gold color, still glowing faintly.

This circle would hopefully contain any sort of failure of the ritual, should anything go wrong. In the higher level rituals a complex circles of runes that would help with the channeling of magic during the ritual.

Finishing the circle of blood Perseus pressed the tip of the knife into the upper part of his left forearm, this was where the ritual would begin, and it would circle back around at the end and finish on the same cut.

Dragging the knife up his left arm and bringing the knife up across his chest Perseus was relieved. It was much easier than he thought it might have been, he had been slightly worried beforehand, but now he was confident. Keeping the knife at a consistent depth and progressing at a somewhat speedy pace Perseus switched from his right hand to his left hand holding the knife, at the middle of his chest.

Perseus was going at a very quick pace, but he did not now that that was not normal. Usually it bothered people the first time, apparently this was not so for Perseus. Perseus could not tell it, but he appeared to be some sort of a natural at bloodmagic, based on his performance during this first ritual.

Sweeping the knife across his chest and down his right arm Perseus followed the diagram as he had memorized it. The way the lines were laid out would be optimal for strength increase.

As he finished on his right arm Perseus moved down to about his waist, this ritual would require no cutting below his waist or on his legs. Circling the blade around his waist in a perfect circle Perseus moved the knife up his left flank, and up to his left shoulder. Perseus had switched the knife back to his right hand again, very carefully. Dragging the knife once more down his left arm Perseus circled the line down to the lower side of his forearm, and circled it around to the other side, lower down on his arm than where he had started. Bringing the knife back to where he had started Perseus finished the ritual.

He had been very careful to push a constant amount of bloodmagic through the knife and into the long cut as he had made it, which would ensure the best results.

Remaking the first cut he had made in his palm Perseus swept his hand across the crude, dried circle of blood he had made in the beginning of the ritual.

With a flash of pale golden light the ritual was complete, and Perseus slumped down to his knees, he had dried blood all over his body and the entirety of the cut he had made was sore and painful.

Stumbling, ever so slightly, out of the ritual chamber and into the washroom to shower and wash himself off Perseus was relieved. The entire ritual had taken less than ten minutes total, which was incredibly speedy for a ritual. Perseus would start to see results in the next two or three days as the magic settled, and would become stronger than he was now and more agile and faster.

Feeling sufficiently washed and refreshed Perseus stepped out of the washroom, wearing a pair of pajamas and slumped on his bed and soon he was asleep.

* * *

Lily potter looked fondly at the sleeping form of her two months old daughter. Unlike Charles, Iris was a very easy child to handle.

'just like her eldest brother, harry.'she thought of her eldest , long lost son , ohh how much she missed him.

She had heard James and Remus talking a few days earlier, and James had said, 'iris's birth is a blessing indeed , now I am sure lily will be busy with her enough that she won't think much about the loss of harry."

How wrong he was, as much as she loved her baby girl and Charles , harry's loss had left a hole in her heart and nothing short of her eldest son's return will ever be able to fill that hole .

'He would have gone to Hogwarts today, 'she thought as fresh set of tears escaped her eyes.

Unknown to her, her eldest son was indeed going to Hogwarts and was in London, about to board the Hogwarts express

* * *

It was September 1st, 1991 and Perseus Black stood watching the entrance to King's Cross. He found it amusing to see how many Muggle-borns or half-bloods were clumsily strolling with their trunks and pets towards the trolleys.

It had been two months since Perseus made his trip to Diagon Alley, and showed Arcturus his invention. Arcturus has gotten it patented by not only the ministry but also the ICW. They had decided on naming it the 'BLACK SCREEN'. And already many organizations had ordered for the said screen and the ministry of Japan has ordered a dozen of it, the size of those screen was 20 * 25 feet, as they are hosting the quiditch world cup next year..

But then his grandfather had another idea which proved why he was such a successful businessman. He recalled the words of his grandfather.

''Why limit this screen to just tournaments , why not model them for security purposes . Install the silver snitch at the front gate and you can see who is on the door from inside the house Only.'' , and it was a huge hit too.

Initially Perseus has worked on the screens himself for a month and had finished 40 of them. But with the increase in demand, Arcturus has hired 4 metals charmers who had signed a magically binding contract, according to which they cannot disclose anything regarding the screens.

Ever since Arcturus had told Perseus that one day he would have to take charge of Oceania , despite that country being under the jurisdiction of the British ministry of magic and as such is a part of the united isles. And as a result of which, The next month, Perseus spent on reading about the political system of wizarding countries as well as about notable organizations and leaders.

King's Cross Station during the morning was probably one of the most busiest places in all of London, which was proved when Perseus and his grandfather arrived at said station only to be met dozens of families, people heading off to work, muggle school children and regular citizens running around and rushing to their respective trains.

Perseus had never had a reason to go to King's Cross personally, so this was his first visit to the famous train station, which would explain his awed and wary state of mind as he and Arcturus approached. He never was one for crowds.

"Perseus, stick close to me until we get to Platform 9 ¾ okay?" Arcturus asked with a kind smile, understanding his heir's discomfort. Perseus nodded and grabbed onto the back of his grandfather's coat allowing himself to be led through the crowd at King's Cross as they passed families that Perseus was sure were magical also.

Finally, Perseus and Arcturus arrived at Platform 10, a platform that was coincidently devoid of any muggles.

"Perseus, what you need to do is run into the wall right there" Arcturus indicated the brick wall before them "it's an illusionary wall that you can walk right through; Platform 9 ¾ is on the other side" explained the aged lord.

At that moment a group of people passed just behind them and perseus caught a few words of what they were saying. "- packed with Muggles, of course -" he swung round.

The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk , in front of them, though unlike Perseus's, they were just ordinary trunks which looked rather worn out.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small boy, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go... "

"You're not old enough, Ronald, now be quiet. All right, Percy,-" , she however stopped speaking as her eyes fell on Arcturus black, and realization dawned upon her.

"Do I have something on my face, molly " Arcturus asked her.

"no I am just surprised to see you here" she replied. And she was indeed shocked,. She was related to black family, both through the prewets as well as the weasley family. The last time she had met him was on the funeral of Arthur's mother , Cedrella Weasley nee Black, and Arcturus's daughter.

'But what is he doing here'she thought. Her unasked question was answered when Arcturus said

"well , Perseus here will be starting his Hogwarts education " he said as he put his hand on Perseus shoulder as Perseus tilted his head to acknowledge her.

Now this surprised molly, for as far as she knew Arcturus was the last living male member of the black family, 'well that is if one does not include the traitor Sirius Black', she thought. Then

where did this young man come from, ' he is a black, no doubt about that, he has all the prominent features that the blacks are famous for.'

"oh that's good., my children, the twins are to start there first year too" she said as she motioned towards her children ,"this is Fred , George, this is Percy and this is Ronald, my other son has already boarded the express as he had prefect duties" she finished as she introduced her children one by one." And children, this is your great-grandfather, lord Arcturus black, the third." The weasley children greeted him

"Very well, now enough with the chit chat, we should move along now." Arcturus said.

Then percy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Perseus watched as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.

"well Perseus, your turn" Arcturus said. And Perseus marched towards the barrier and crossed it. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven O'clock. Perseus looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.

A moment later his grandfather joined him while he was inspecting the ruins and enchantments on the archway.

"that is a very interesting piece of magic" Perseus said.

"Yes indeed it is, " he replied .

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. They walked down the platform in search of an empty seat.

Perseus pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train.

It was almost 11 and Perseus looked at his grandfather but before he could say anything, Arcturus said "well , this is it then, the beginning of a new phase of your life, ".

"I will miss you, grandfather"

"And I will miss you too Perseus, and before you leave , I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much child, and I am extremely proud of you" he said as he pulled Perseus in a hug. And then Arcturus apparated away seeing as it was almost time for the express to depart as Perseus boarded the train

He sat down in the compartment and watched through the window as parents said goodbye to their children and pushed them towards the train. He could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

"Where's Percy?" said their mother.

"He's coming now." One of the twin replied.

The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes.

"All right, dear, well, have a good term - send me an owl when you get there. "Said their mother fondly.

"Now, you two - this is not your home, its Hogwarts , you will behave yourselves. If I get even one owl telling me you've - you've blown up a toilet or -"

"Blown up a toilet? why would we blow up a toilet."

"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."

"It's not funny. so you two better behave". She said

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the twins clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye.

"Don't, ronald, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, Mom." The train began to move.

Perseus saw the boys' mother waving and their brother, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then he fell back and waved.

Perseus watched the boy and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Perseus felt a great leap of excitement. He had one motive now, to make his grandfather proud, to bring glory to the blacks. And to learn as much as he could and become the best.

He took out a book on curse breaking and began reading , after sometime the compartment slid open and a young boy came in. and behind him came an irritated voice,

" At least show some manners , you should have knocked first" and then the speaker of those words came in.

The girl had long black hair tied in a low pony tail and tanned skin who was seemingly annoyed with the other person in the compartment. Her accent was slightly different and he was certain she was not from Britain. The boy, had dark brown hair, pale skin and high cheekbones, giving him an aristocratic look, he also seemed to have a permanent cheesy grin on his face that he wouldn't drop, even while he talked.

"You don't mind if we take a seat do you?", the girl asked politely , "everywhere else is rather full…"

Her tone and gestures were definitely that of someone belonging to an elite class. After settling in the compartment the girl turned to him and nodded," I am Helena and this is Nicklaus. "

"Hello, my name is Perseus." He didn't hold out his hands, since that was an act of friendship and alliance in the old pureblood customs but kept a welcoming smile on his face and refrained from saying his surname just as the girl had.

"Nice to meet you Perseus, "Nicklaus said," but call me nick, everyone does, anyway, I have to go to the washroom, excuse me". And with that he left the compartment.

"You are not from the isles " Perseus said as he looked at Helena after she had settled down on the seat in front of him," , if I were to hazard a guess , I would say Greece".

"And you would be correct" said the girl after a brief look of surprise crossed her face.

"Then why attend Hogwarts, I mean why not go to Archnae , Institute of Magiks in Alexandria , " he asked.

"yes, well , the Greeks attend Archnae, all my cousins are students of that school. But my grandmother was from England, and she went to Hogwarts , she wanted me to go there , and I too wanted to something different ." she replied.

" hmm that's all well and good, but Archnae has the largest and the oldest library in the world." Perseus said.

"Yeah, but I am sure my experience in Hogwarts will be great too." She replied,

After a minute later Nicklaus returned and sat alongside Helena And he started chatting with her. They were arguing over who was a better wand maker and suddenly Nicklaus asked Perseus.

"Tell her Perseus, ollivander is the best wandmaker in the world , and she should have gotten her wand from him."

"Well it depends , which ollivander are we talking about, " this surprised both of them." If you are talking about Garrick ollivander , then I would say he is one of the best wand makers but if you are talking about Silas ollivander, than I can say without any doubt that he is the best wandmaker in the world." Perseus replied.

"There are two of those creeps" Nicklaus asked .

" Show me your wands " Perseus said and they both complied, Perseus first inspected Nicklaus's wand.

It was brown, with a black handle," 10" long, made of hawthorn wood, and had a unicorn hair core. reasonably pliant, interesting very interesting" he said as he handed his wand back to Nicklaus who was looking at him as if he had grown an extra eye.

"How did you do that, only wand makers can do something like that" Helena asked, and she knew at that very moment that Perseus was a very capable wizard.

"I may have studied a bit about wands " he replied

"From who?, can you learn that? , will you teach me?, And what did you mean when you said 'interesting, very interesting'" Nicklaus asked all at once.

"yes Nicklaus you can learn that art, but I can't teach you, " he replied,

"Call me nick" he said," and what about the interesting part.

"the interesting thing is hawthorn wood makes a strange, contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death" Perseus replied ," the hawthorn wand seems most at home with a conflicted nature, or with a witch or wizard passing through a period of turmoil. hawthorn wands are not easy to master and may be particularly suited to healing magic, but they are also adept at curses."

"wow , you are amazing mate" he said," now check helena's wand and tell us which one is better."

Helena handed over her wand to Perseus , her eyes were wary and yet dancing with excitement .

"That's a very beautiful wand, 10¾" long, made of vine wood, and possess a , dragon heart string , oh my-"

"what, what is it" nick asked.

"Dragon heart string , dipped in the dragon's tear" Perseus replied as he looked at her in surprise.

now this shocked Helena , after his examination of nick's wand she had expected Perseus to be able to know the core and wood of her wand, but to be able to know that the core was also dipped in the tear of a dragon , now that was something else .

"The vine is a symbol of passionate emotions in each extreme — both happiness and wrath. It was connected to the autumn equinox, when there are equal hours of darkness and light, and thus to balance, as well as to the harvest, a time of growth and achieving goals. This wand is best suitable transfrugation and defense" Perseus finished as he handed back her wand

"One of O'Scarlets creation, I would guess " Perseus asked.

"Yes, how did you know that"

"she has a tendency to create beautiful wand, and wands without an obvious handle , plus not many wand makers soak the cores in a binding liquid, that is O'Scarlets work." He finished

"wow, you are really good, who taught you , I somehow doubt that you learned all this from a book" she asked

But before Perseus could answer.

"So which wand is better" Nicklaus asked in excitement.

"well, its your's Nicklaus, your wand is better " Perseus replied.

"What?"

"Yes, woo-hoo"

They both said at the same time.

"How can you say that" Helena asked

"Well if nicklaus's wand was made by Garrick ollivander , then maybe your wand would have been better, but Garick ollivander did not make that wand, I can assure you of that, for I would recognize a wand made by Silas ollivander in a second. And no matter what O'Scarlet does, she cannot match the talent that is Silas ollivander nor his experience " Perseus replied

She remained silent for a few seconds and then suddenly said," it was Silas ollivander that taught you, wasn't it, no wonder you have him in such high regards?"

"yes" Perseus replied.

"So, maybe you are not the right person to judge which wand is better " she said.

"are you accusing my knowledge or my mentor's teaching" Perseus asked in a sharp voice and his eyes glowed slightly . He never liked when people questioned his talents and he had utmost respect for his mentor and he won't tolerate if anyone were to insult him

That cold voice sent shivers down Helena's spine but one look in his eyes and she knew that Perseus was a very dangerous wizard.

"I am just saying that you could be biased, that is all"

Suddenly there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

"No thank you I am rather full "Perseus said

"Right, full of yourself" Helena said

"I am hungry" Nicklaus said, trying to break the tension he got up and got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

They both stared at Nicklaus.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," he said, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty, "Go on, have a pasty,".

Perseus unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half- moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

Perseus turned over his card and read:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

The train had been travelling for five hours of the estimated eight hour journey and the sun was beginning to set in the horizon. The image of the lush greens of the Scottish countryside being painted orange and red by the sunset was definitely something Perseus would admit to finding a beautiful sight.

Unfortunately, within the compartment, the noise hadn't died down much at all. Perseus wouldn't have believed it possible that someone could talk so much for so long about pretty much nothing in particular, but Nicklaus proved him wrong on that. He could understand why the greek girl had snapped at him earlier, if Perseus had to put up with that constantly, and by the looks of the two, they seemed fairly familiar with each other, he would snap also.

"So, what house do you think you'll be in Perseus?" Helena asked, trying to start up a conversation with the green eyed boy, hoping to quell Nicklaus's need to talk for at least a few minutes and earn some well deserved silence.

"Doesn't matter" Perseus said with a shrug "as long as I can learn about magic, I don't much care what house I'm in" he trailed off, not even looking at the people he was speaking to as he spoke; he'd much rather keep his eyes set on the beautiful countryside that was rapidly passing them by.

"Definitely a Ravenclaw then" Nicklaus said with a nod, seemingly sure of herself "No prior prejudices about any of the houses and a will to learn, I bet you'll be a Raven. My family has always been Slytherin so I'll probably end up there" he said, skillfully dancing around the topic on whether he wanted to be in the house of snakes or not.

"I don't see how their history at school is of any influence to your sorting" Perseus said.

"You're right. However the designated house of a parent CAN predict the personality of the child, since the houses are based upon characteristics and it's possible to assume that a parent raises their child by their own morals and standards." Nicklaus explained.

"So you're saying that every person in a Hogwarts house, sorted in that house at the age of eleven, has the same morals and standards not only at that time, but also for the rest of their lives? Or at least fifteen years later?" Perseus asked in discussion.

"You have a point. However you do realize that the former Hogwarts house of a parent can define some of the characteristics of that person and they can pass that along to their child?"Nicklaus asked for clarification.

"I realize that. On the other hand, it is equally possible that the child learns from their parents faults, develops completely different characteristics or even renounces their beliefs. Thus, making it just a matter of chance with perhaps a slightly larger probability for your conclusion." Perseus argued and gave in to some extent.

Perseus smiled victoriously at winning the argument over him until Nicklaus dropped the bomb on the conversation.

"But this is all under the assumption that the parents are present to raise their child…."

"Ohhh " realization dawned upon him

"I….. I'm sorry." Perseus continued after the silence became uncomfortable.

"That's alright, you obviously didn't know." he tried to smile reassuringly towards his travel companion.

Fortunately, they were interrupted when two red headed boys barreled into the compartment, closed the door behind them and hid below the window as not to be seen.

"Brother of mine, I think that girl is crazy…"

"I am going to have to agree with you Gred; I don't think she would prank _her_ ever again if we want to keep out bits…"

"Too right, old chap"

Looked on in confusion as two red headed twins their age seemed to be conversing with each other without any special regard to who else was in the compartment with them.

"What should we do next do you think Feorge?"

"We could steal all the chocolate frogs and let them loose on the train…"

"Or we could throw dung bombs in the toilets…"

"Or we could magically tie Charlie's show laces together…"

"Oh, that is just devious brother of mine"

"Why thank you old chap"

Perseus, Helena and Nicklaus were watching the exchange between the two boys like a tennis match. Before they were about to leave their compartment as quickly as they barged in, they turned around revealing pale skin and freckled faces – they seemed to be identical twins.

"Thanks for not snitching us out, I'm Fred…"

"…and I'm George Weasley" they introduced themselves with huge nicklaus like grins.

Immediately, as soon as they left nick looked up to them and grinned "I like 'em."

Helena and Perseus simultaneously rolled their eyes in annoyance before going back to what they were doing previously – Helena looked out the now dark window, Perseus went back to reading his book.

When the train started to slow down, a voice called down the train that they had to change into their robes since they would be arriving at Hogwarts in ten minutes time. Perseus and nicklaus left the compartment shortly for Helena to get changed and returned quickly after , and they too changed into Hogwarts uniform.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Hogsmeade station was so dark that even when the students got off the train, they could barely see more than 10 feet in any direction. The cold Scotland air also assaulted Perseus's senses as soon as he stopped off the train and leaving the warming charms of the express behind.

Perseus saw as Helena shivered in the cold night air. He cast warming charm at her. The sudden warmth surprised her and she looked for the one who helped her and Perseus winked at her.

Eventually, after the first years waited by themselves for a while as they watched the older students walk off in the direction where some carriages were, a large bobbing light started coming from the opposite direction.

"Firs' years, Firs' years, this way please" yelled a booming voice over the sea of first years. The huge man had to be over ten feet tall with a huge bushy beard and beady eyes while wearing a large haggard coat.

"Come on Firs' years, my name's Rubeus Hagrid, but everybody calls me Hagrid, follow me up te the castle now, its cold out" he said, turning around and motioning for them to follow him "try te keep up now, no fallin' be'ind"

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Perseus thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much..

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Perseus and Nicklaus and Helena were followed into their boat by a boy who introduced himself as 'Cedric Diggory' "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and her posture clearly said' do not mess with me'

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was even bigger than the one at the black manor. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Perseus could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

Perseus, recognizing the speech as a memorized one, decided to intervene to start his breaking of prejudices in the Wizarding World.

"Excuse me professor. Are you saying that we can't spend our free time in one of the other common rooms? If so, then where will we meet up with people from other houses then? Are there any common places for promoting the inter-house relationships?"

"Not that I'm aware of, mister….?" McGonagall replied.

"Black ma'am, Perseus Black. Nice to meet you, Professor McGonagall," Perseus filled in.

Perseus swore he saw her tense for a moment and then bewildered as she looked into his eyes. Her face was conflicted with emotions; wonder along with slight worry.

"It is nice to meet you too, Mr. Black."; she said after a moment "Now, as I was saying before," here she glared mockingly at him and Perseus just smiled his lopsided grin in return, the one his grandfather said was part of the Black charm'.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber.

Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed.

"What the -?" Nicklaus gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

"no we havetraveled all the way from England just to meet you lot" Perseus shot back

Then the Bloody Baron, floated into the room they were waiting in and just glared at them all for a while silently with slightly intimidating eyes. The blood stains on his ghostly white outfit were commented to 'probably' be apple sauce by some naïve girl waiting with them in the room.

The ghost, Perseus knew, served the Headmaster as a part of Hogwarts but were the rumor mill of the castle and had once lived as witches and wizards, therefore had knowledge of old magic.

The definition of old magic was used very widely by Perseus, for he realized everything what those two words entailed. They would know of rituals, spells and items that are no longer in use, not mentioned anymore in literature or even outlawed since then by the Minstry of Magic. They would be the ultimate teachers and all you had to do for acquiring that knowledge was to receive their acceptance and friendship. Also, the ghosts would know Hogwarts like no other and thus had invaluable information for Perseus.

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know." And One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" a girl asked to no one in particular

Perseus recognized the girl; he had met her at madam malkins' shop who introduced herself as Alicia Spinnet

"I asked my grandfather before we boarded the Hogwarts express about how we get sorted, he said that it's a secret and that nobody going to Hogwarts for their first time should know how…" Nicklaus said

Perseus nodded dismissively, still leaning against the wall and looking off into space. The other three just assumed he wasn't really paying attention, but in truth, to pass the time, Perseus was taking in the aura of every first year student and the castle . the castle's magic was emitting such magic that almost enthralled Perseus

Nicklaus frowned in thought "What if we have to fight some dangerous magical beast? Yeah, I bet that's it…and depending on how we go about it, they decide on what house we belong to…if we defeat it in fair combat, we go into Gryffindor, if we outwit it, we go into Ravenclaw, if we befriend it, we go into Hufflepuff and if we use our cunning to strike it down from the shadows, we go to Slytherin!" he exclaimed, thinking he was the most brilliant man in the world for deducing such a cunning theory.

Some of the other first years who overheard his theory were looking pale and more frightened then ever at his theory Cedric trying to suppress a laugh.

"You are the biggest moron if have ever had the displeasure of meeting!" shrieked Helena "he has no idea what he's talking about, they won't make us fight a dragon" she said to the others in hearing range, trying to calm them down somewhat.

"You have a better idea then?!"Nicklaus challenged, his pride hurt at being shot down so easily.

"Yes" she provided "They assess our personalities with some magical object and judging by the assessment, they place us into a house that would suit us best" she offered and Perseus had to admit, as he overheard, that it seemed like a well thought out and reasonable guess…maybe too well thought out and reasonable. Perseus looked her directly in the eyes after she was done and noticed with satisfaction that she looked a little nervous and embarrassed under his gaze. He found it funny

The doors through which the professor had disappeared opened and McGonagall entered the entrance hall once again. No one but Perseus and Cedric had noticed it since everyone was still in awe or in conversation with the four house ghosts. McGonagall smiled briefly when she saw Perseus looking at her, but it disappeared when she spoke up.

"Move along now!" Everyone but the twosome jumped at the sharp voice in surprise. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start. Form a line and enter the Great Hall in an orderly fashion."

"If you would all follow me into the great hall for your sorting" she said "you will wait at the back of the hall until your name is called so we can have you sit on the stool and place the sorting hat on your head" she offered as Perseus watched the lack of surprise on Stephanie's face with amusement.

As they were walking into the hall, Perseus grabbed Helena by her elbow to slow her down "Who told you about how we get sorted Helena ?" he asked with an amused smirk as he watched her avert her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she mumbled under her breath nervously as Perseus watched her try to deny it with amusement.

They both entered the great hall behind the rest of the pack

The great hall as massive with a ceiling charmed to show the night sky instead of a painted ceiling. There were four long tables placed vertically along the hall with a large and elevated horizontally placed table that the teachers were sitting on looking down at the first years at the opposite end of the hall. The other four tabled seemed littered in seas of green, yellow, red and blue showing clearly that each house sat separately at one of the four tables. The hall itself was illuminated by several lit candles spelled to float independently that all shone their light onto the students and teachers below like stars in the night sky.

Perseus finished his observations and looked to the other first years, who, seemed to all be in shock and awe by the hall and its decorations. Looking up at the head table, Perseus noticed several recognizable figures; one of those was the giant of a man Hagrid that had picked them up from the train station at Hogsmeade. Another recognizable figure was the very short elderly wizard recognizable from a lot of his Charms books as Filius Flitwick. The man was somewhat of an idle for him, being a former duelling champion and one of the world's most renown charms masters. However, probably one of the most recognizable figures seated at the head table looking down upon everyone in the hall from the headmaster's chair was Albus Dumbledore; the man looked to be the very picture of what one would expect Merlin to look like with long silver hair with a matching silver bear. He also seemed to favour bright and eccentric clothing, especially if the light blue shiny silk robe covering his purple undergarments was anything to go by.

Professor McGonagall walked through another door into the great hall holding an old looking brown wizards hat and a rickety looking stool, both of which were placed at the head of the hall – the hat on the stool – before she pulled out a rolled up scroll form her sleeve.

Perseus was slightly surprised when there was a slight coughing noise coming form the hat, as if it were clearing its throat, before the creases in the material contorted to that of a face of sorts.

 _Oh you may not think me pretty,_ _  
_ _But don't judge on what you see,_ _  
_ _I'll eat myself if you can find_ _  
_ _A smarter hat than me._ _  
_ _You can keep your bowlers black,_ _  
_ _Your top hats sleek and tall,_ _  
_ _For I'm theHogwarts Sorting Hat_ _  
_ _And I can cap them all._ _  
_ _There's nothing hidden in your head_ _  
_ _The Sorting Hat can't see,_ _  
_ _So try me on and I will tell you_ _  
_ _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong inGryffindor,_ _  
_ _Where dwell the brave at heart,_ _  
_ _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_ _  
_ _Set Gryffindors apart;_ _  
_ _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_ _  
_ _Where they are just and loyal,_ _  
_ _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_ _  
_ _And unafraid of toil;_ _  
_ _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_ _  
_ _if you've a ready mind,_ _  
_ _Where those of wit and learning,_ _  
_ _Will always find their kind;_ _  
_ _Or perhaps in Slytherin_ _  
_ _You'll make your real friends,_ _  
_ _Those cunning folks use any means_ _  
_ _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_ _  
_ _And don't get in a flap!_ _  
_ _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_ _  
_ _For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

Everyone in the hall applauded politely at the conclusion of the song. Perseus looked over to Helena who was standing beside him with a raised eyebrow, his question clearly on his face. A little guilty, she gave a small smile before slipping her face back under a mask of neutrality.

"My grandma told me that the sorting hat looks through our minds to determine which of the four house's qualities we mostly possess and sorts us into that house…also that hat comes up with a new song every year at the opening feast, she refused to tell me at first but then I acted like a pampered child and threatened her by saying 'I won't go to Hogwarts if you won't tell me.' And so she had to tell me" she explained, quietly so only the two of them could hear.

Perseus nodded dismissively, that information didn't really interest him, what interested him more was the information that her grandmother was in a position to release such secrets that he knew were under secrecy oaths without a worry in the world for any sort of reprimanding that she may receive.

"Asmoedius, Gareth" called out McGonagall from the now unrolled sheet of parchment. A boy with light brown hair and grey eyes scurried forward as everyone in the hall had his eyes set on him. McGonagall with a thin lipped smile motioned him towards the chair where he sat down and placed the overly large hat on his head, allowing it to engulf his head whole. There were several moments of silence before the hat spoke up for the hall to hear.

"Hufflepuff!" the table that was the second from the right erupted with cheers as the boy's robes magically changed to match the Hufflepuff colours of black and yellow. The boy scurried over to the table and took a seat with his fellow housemates while McGonagall called forth the next person.

The next name was familiar to Perseus but it also surprised him

"Angelis, Helena"

Now this surprised Perseus, the Angelis clan, was the noble family and the ruling clan of the kingdom of Olympia in Greece.

How was he to know the girl who had shared a compartment with him was most probably the princess of Olympia. he could see recognition in the eyes of some older students ,

The sorting hat took a minute before it shouted " RAVENCLAW"

As the table that was the second from the left erupted with cheers as the Helena's robes magically changed to match the Ravenclaw colors of blue and bronze. The boy scurried over to the table and took a seat with his fellow housemates while McGonagall called forth the next person.

Perseus zoned out as he looked around the hall some more, taking in the details of the still foreign room. Just as he was wondering how hungry he was, his name was called out.

"Black, Perseus" McGonagall called out .

As Perseus stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Black, did she say black"

"Black as in the most noble and ancient house of black"

"But I thought there was no one of that age in the black family"

"He can't be a black'

"He is, look at his signet ring"

Perseus walked down the isle between the two tables and took his seat on the stool before McGonagall placed the sorting hat on his head

 _Hmm why can't I look into your mind, curious, very curious , you are not using occulemency_

Perseus was shocked to hear a voice inside his head, but he was somewhat relieved to hear that the hat can't read his mind.

 _it's as if the enchantments place on me are being nullified, ohh wait yes, that's it, you are a nullifier, I haven't sorted out a nullifier in 5 centuries._

"Then how are you going to sort me , if you can't read my mind, not that I am complaining" he said

 _Well it is quite simple you tell me what do you want to achieve in your life and I will sort you on the basis of your answer_

"Very well, shoot." He said.

 _Have you no preference, no say in this matter?_

" _I'm just here to learn, that is all"_ Perseus replied, finally giving the hat something to feed off of.

 _Learn yes, but why, what do you want to achieve Mr. Black._

"I want to be great, I want to be the most powerful wizard in the world"

 _Ahh and what set you on this path, Mr. Black_

"I want to make my grandfather proud, I want to be able to protect those I love if need be and –"I stopped mid sentence.

 _And?_

"And I want to prove my might and power to those who abandoned me in favor of another." He said with slight rage in his voice and then he reprimanded himself for losing control like that

 _Aah, so you wish to be great, I don't have to read your mind to know that you will achieve greatness regardless of the house you are sorted into. And there is one house that will lead you towards your goal, but you will be under a lot of pressure in your life _

"oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." Perseus supplied.

That must have satisfied the hat as it said

 _Well said,_ _but the_ _Pressure Will Turn You Into Either Dust Or A Diamond_

"I am willing to take the chance" Perseus said

 _Such bravery, godric would have loved to have you in his house, _

"No, because I can recognize the line between bravery and stupidity, and grifindors are mostly fools.

 _Aah well then there is only one house that will help you the most on the way to greatness, no doubt about that. Better be in—_

* * *

 **Where will perseus be sorted , any guesses ?**

 **I hope you liked it , please review guys .**

 **Till next time**

 **See yaa**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

 **FIRSTLY I WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER THE REVIEWS**

 **panther73110 , you will find the answer to your question in this chapter .**

 **stonegnome1 ollivander matches a wand with wizard so that the wand is best suited for the wizard. the old wand perseus was using wasn't up to the mark as already mentioned by him. to fully utilize his magic he got to have a bond that is suits him perfectly.**

 **froper98 too right my friend , i have something similar in mind , and sorry you were wrong about his sorting.**

 **XxAragonxX i have something similar in mind mate , but he is too young right now .**

 **Kidagirl8 There was fic with the same title and almost same story and you can say i did adopt in a way if you call reposting my pic under a different penname as adopting it . And you yave no idea how happy it mafe me to know that some still remwmber that fic 😍. To be honest i wondering how long it would take for some readers to recognise it . So enjoy this one and i wont stop this fic , so read and review it and pm if you have any query**

 **AND as for Perseus's love interest , first of all he is too young right now , but he will find the speacial someone, when you guys would expect it the least.**

 **so now enjoy this chapter , next chapter within 24 hours**

* * *

"Slytherin!"

Perseus heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked confidently toward the slytherin table. getting an applause as he was the first student to be sorted into slytherin , and also sighs of relief from most of the hall, Perseus's sorting had taken the longest by far and people were extremely hungry. Perseus looked down to his robes that still kept their black colour mainly but also gained the green and silver colors of slytherin as well as the crest with the snake on his breast. Taking his seat by his fellow housemates who welcomed him.

"What took the hat so long", asked one of the student who introduced himself as Abraham But before Perseus could respond another spoke up

" Well, what was there for the hat to even think about, where else would a black go if not in slytherin" .

"True that "Perseus said in an impassive tone.

Perseus tuned out his fellow housemates who were now talking amongst themselves , he then looked at the next name that was called out , a girl named Amanda Brown was also sorted into slytherin.

"Diggory, Cedric" McGonagall eventually called, catching Perseus's attention, the boy seemed alright and he seemed to have already made friends with Nicklaus, so he listened in.

"Hufflepuff!" Cedric took the hat off and blushed in embarrassment when the hall cheered for him before moving over to his table and sitting beside Gary, the first boy sorted.

Perseus zoned out as he looked around the hall some more, taking in the details of the still foreign room. He looked at the hupplepuff table where Cedric was talking to a girl, probably in her sixth or seventh year, the girl then suddenly looked at him with wariness and interest , she had dark, twinkling eyes, a pale, heart-shaped face and short spiky hair which, as weird as it sounds, were purple which changed suddenly , to a bubblegum pink color. And he knew who she was right away, Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda's daughter and so Perseus gave her a nod of acknowledgment which she returned.

Just as he was wondering how hungry he was, another familiar name was called out.

"MIKAELSON NICKLAUS " with large, proud steps, Nick strode up to the chair and put the hat on his head, his grin still in place and could be seen from under the rim of the hat. Perseus watched the boy's facial expressions intently when he noticed the grin slip only to be replaced by his lips thinning ;a look that almost looked out of place on the boy's features and his hands clenched into a fist

After a long while, the hat made its decision. And the slytherins cheered for the addition to their house as nick came and sat beside him

Perseus idly heard a few names that he recognized getting sorted after his own; Weasley, Pucey and Rookwood being some examples, all the students were sorted, the girl who Perseus had seen at ollivander's when during his last visit to his shop , who Perseus got to know was angelica Johnson was sorted into griffindor.

Many students , specially the slytherins were talking about how only four students were sorted into the house of snake.

He could see the High Table properly now. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Perseus recognized him at once. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Perseus spotted a man with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin , he knew him from voldemorts memories, Professor severus Snape, the half-blood potion master . He was dressed in his usual black robes, looking very bored as if he'd rather be anywhere but here.

Perseus looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Perseus didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he - a bit mad?" Nick asked a fifth year student , who introduced himself a mark cook, a prefect .

"Mad?" said cook airily. " He is a bit mad, yes. But even we slytherins acknowledge the fact that he is the strongest wizard in Europe, after all , even you-know-who couldn't defeat him?"

"Yes , that's true" Perseus said, as a few older student listened in, trying to assess the black heir when Perseus said again

"But, it is also true that Dumbledore couldn't defeat him either" .

The students listening in their conversation nodded in agreement at his point

"But everyone says that Dumbeldore was the only one you-know-who ever feared" said Amanda.

"Maybe,"Perseus said but continued after giving a short pause.

" But if that were true , then why was Dumbledore unable defeat voldermort"

Every student shivered , literally shivered at the mention of the dark lord's name.

"Y-You s-said You-Know-Who's name!" Amanda stuttered.

But before Perseus could give her a reply another voice came.

"You dare say his name" a senior student, who had earlier introduced himself as Andrews, said angrily, trying to intimidate Perseus, as Perseus fixed him with a hard glare.

"And why shouldn't I "Perseus replied and before anyone could reply, he continued," Unlike you, I do not fear him, let alone his name".

"but-''cook said, "I thought the Blacks were avid supporters and followers of the dark lord".

"The house of Black does not follow anyone" he said and his already bright emerald green eyes glowed a bit, "yes some members of my family , made a few mistakes, not unlike any other person, but we did not support voldemort, we do not follow anyone" he finished all the while glaring at Andrews

"You think you are pretty bad ass, that you can say his name without any worries in the world don't you? You think you are so cool now huh?" Andrews said in a weak attempt to preserve his image.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt Andrews. I do suggest you shut up." Perseus said and sent a weak mental probe towards him and he cowered back. As everyone pondered over his words.

'Step one towards fulfilling grandfather's dream,' he thought

Unknown to them all, the whole discussion was overheard by the teachers at the staff table who all had varied reaction towards the mindset of the black heir.

Then suddenly, the dishes in front of him were filled with food; roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

"Aah the work of house elves 'Perseus thought. As students tucked into their starters they began to speak with their new housemates, and the Slytherin table were abuzz with energy. Perseus had been inundated with questions and had answered none but the briefest so far.

He felt a chill from nearby and looked to his right to see a horribly disfigured ghost sitting one seat away. He had blank, staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Andrews who, Perseus was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"You look a lot like him" the ghost said, all the while looking intently at Perseus.

That again attracted the attention of many students around them.

"Like who?"Asked one of the students with interest.

"salazar slytherin" he said which spread a wave of murmurs amongst the students.

"I know who you are!" said Amanda suddenly. "My father told me about you - you're the bloody baron!"

"Yes, indeed, I am the bloody baron" he said.

"Welcome, Mister Black," the Bloody Baron said softly. "You will do quite well in Slytherin."

"How did you get covered in blood?" asked nick with great interest. Hearing that question, the students around them stopped eating and their eyes went wide. Apparently no one has asked that question before as the ghost glared at the Mikaelson with anger

The silver blood on his clothes and lack of any cut on his translucent flesh indicated that the blood was not his own and besides Perseus knew whose blood it was exactly. Voldermort or tom riddle was a very persuasive man , able to charm even ghosts . to yank the baron's chain a bit Perseus said

"Blood of a lover, perhaps " Perseus said absentmindedly and immediately the ghost looked back at Black heir while Perseus stole a glance at a ghostly figure at the ravenclaw table and then looked back at the baron

Then suddenly his suddenly his eyes got wide and the ghost got closer to Perseus and said in such a low voice that only Perseus was able to hear ," welcome back lord slytherin, I knew you would return one day" and then floated away from them.

Perseus was startled for a moment but then it hit him

'Ohh great , now the bloody ghost thinks that I am salzar slytherin reincarnated ,but that can be useful too'. ' Perseus thought as he went back to his meal as everyone chatted amongst themselves about the black heir.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding - "

On Perseus's other side, cook and Amanda were talking about lessons ("I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult-";  
"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing - ").

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later, the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice puddings, and on and on.

As Perseus helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to the coming school year.

"I hope you're all up to helping us hold onto the House Cup this year," cook was saying. "Slytherin House has won the past four years. It's a matter of pride for us now."

"Four years, wow," said nick, clearly awed.

"So don't get caught breaking rules!" Cook admonished. "We're going to have a sort of orientation once we all get back to the dormitory to help make things easier for you

Perseus, looked up at the High Table again. Professor McGonagall l was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Snape was talking to a young witch beside him, probably in her late twenties , who suddenly looked at Perseus with clear loathing and he didn't have to use legillimency to find out her feelings for him, but her glare had no effect whatsoever on Perseus and he just gave her a smirk.

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Snape?" he asked cook.

"Oh, you know professor Snape already, do you? No wonder she looks angry, that's Professor Vector. She teaches arithamacy , don't worry , you don't have to take that class till third year , and that too if you take that elective."

Perseus watched the young professor for a while, but She didn't look at him again.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First of all, let me introduce our new defense against the dark arts professor, who is also a retired auror, has agreed to bestow his knowledge upon the students of Hogwarts, please welcome, professor Richard Castle"

The students clapped politely as a wizard, with sandy grey hair stood up from his chair .

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Perseus noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Slytherin first years followed cook through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and down the marble staircase, down the stairs that led to the dungeons. They turned left and right through the labyrinthine passages. Cook stopped partway along a hallway with a carved stone column at the corner

"The password is superbia

"Pride," translated Perseus absentmindedly which surprised others a bit and the fifth year said

"Right you are, and there is a reason behind it which you will get to know soon?"

A stone door concealed in the wall recessed and slid to the side. The first years poured through, eager to see their new home.

The common room was in the shape of an elongated rectangle. It was an underground-style room, with steps that led down to the recessed floor, carpeted in a rich green with silver designs. The walls and ceiling were rough-hewn stone. Lamps hung on chains from the ceiling, giving off a cozy greenish light. A fire was crackling cheerfully under an elaborately carved mantelpiece in the centre of the long wall. Beanbag chairs were scattered before the fire grate. Several high-backed chairs surrounded each of the tables that were evenly distributed throughout the room. There were two corridors at the far end of the room. Bookshelves lined the walls. It was a very pleasant sort of place.

A Slytherin prefect was lecturing the first years as they made their way to the dungeons.

" Slytherin house held itself above the other three famed houses of Hogwarts and as a result, students do not all share rooming and washroom facilities – instead two students per a room, with their own private bathroom attached. But since you are just four students this year, you will have a dorm to yourself"

The prefect then addressed the first year students as many students have taken seats around them

"Congratulations! I'm Prefect Mark cook and this is "he said indicating to a fifth year student, "Rachel Harper , and I'm delighted to welcome you to SLYTHERIN HOUSE. Our emblem is the serpent, the wisest of creatures; our house colors are emerald green and silver, and our common room lies behind a concealed entrance down in the dungeons. As you'll see, its windows look out into the depths of the Hogwarts Lake. We often see the giant squid swooshing by – and sometimes more interesting creatures. We like to feel that our hangout has the aura of a mysterious, underwater shipwreck.

Now, there are a few things you should know about Slytherin – and a few you should forget.

Firstly, let's dispel a few myths. You might have heard rumors about Slytherin house – that we're all into the Dark Arts, and will only talk to you if your great-grandfather was a famous wizard, and rubbish like that. Well, you don't want to believe everything you hear from competing houses. I'm not denying that we've produced our share of Dark wizards, but so have the other three houses – they just don't like admitting it. And yes, we have traditionally tended to take students who come from long lines of witches and wizards, but nowadays you'll find plenty of people in Slytherin house who have at least one Muggle parent.

Here's a little-known fact that the other three houses don't bring up much: Merlin was a Slytherin. Yes, Merlin himself, the most famous wizard in history! He learned all he knew in this very house! Do you want to follow in the footsteps of Merlin? Or would you rather sit at the old desk of that illustrious ex-Hufflepuff, Eglantine Puffett, inventor of the Self-Soaping Dishcloth?

I didn't think so

But that's enough about what we're not. Let's talk about what we are, which is the coolest and edgiest house in this school. We play to win, because we care about the honor and traditions of Slytherin.

We also get respect from our fellow students. Yes, some of that respect might be tinged with fear, because of our Dark reputation, but you know what? It can be fun, having a reputation for walking on the wild side. Chuck out a few hints that you've got access to a whole library of curses, and see whether anyone feels like nicking your pencil case." He said with a smirk and then Rachel took the lead.

"But we're not bad people. We're like our emblem, the snake: sleek, powerful, and frequently misunderstood.

For instance, we Slytherins look after our own – which is more than you can say for Ravenclaw. Apart from being the biggest bunch of swots you ever met, Ravenclaws are famous for clambering over each other to get good marks, whereas we Slytherins are brothers. The corridors of Hogwarts can throw up surprises for the unwary, and you'll be glad you've got the Serpents on your side as you move around the school. As far as we're concerned, once you've become a snake, you're one of ours – one of the elite.

Because you know what Salazar Slytherin looked for in his chosen students? The seeds of greatness. You've been chosen by this house because you've got the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word.

A few more things you might need to know: our house ghost is the Bloody Baron. If you get on the right side of him he'll sometimes agree to frighten people for you. Just don't ask him how he got bloodstained; he doesn't like it."

Here she gave Nick a pointed look and continued speaking

"The password to the common room changes every fortnight. Keep an eye on the notice board. Never bring anyone from another house into our common room or tell them our password. No outsider has entered it for more than seven centuries.

Well, I think that's all for now. I'm sure you'll like our dormitories."Cook said, pointing towards the far end of the room. "Boys on the right and girls on the left. First years are at the end of the corridor this year."

Perseus and nick went through the corridor made a right-hand turn a few steps in, and they followed it to the end. They passed many heavy wooden doors on their left before they saw a bronze plaque reading 'BLACK' prominent on the door and 'MIKAELSON' on the one adjacent to it.. Perseus pushed the door to his dorm open to find his bed at last.

A four-poster bed was hung with velvet curtains of deep verdant green. There was also a chair and a writing desk. A silver and green scarf and tie was hung over the back of the chair.

"Not bad," said Perseus

His bed was positioned with the headboard against the near wall. In the opposite wall was a large picture window, giving a beautiful view of the night sky above and the black glass lake below.

"I'll say. Look at that view," echoed nick who was standing at the door."how come your room has a window"

"I don't know, must be because I am smarter than you" Perseus replied as he approached the picture, which had a note attached to it that read.

 _Congratulations my child, a gift on your sorting  
-AB_

It was from his grandfather, 'but how did he get the picture in here.' He thought

"Good thing I have curtains. I wouldn't want the sun to strike me first thing in the morning" Perseus said

"How can we have a view if we're underground?" nick asked.

"its enchanted," Perseus theorized.

", You want to go look around the castle tomorrow?" he asked nick

"sure" nick replied, "You won't mind if Helena tags along, would you?"

"Why would I"

"Well you two didn't get along very well on the train, so I thought, you know what I mean" nick aid.

"No Nicklaus , I won't mind"

"hmm, very well, good night then"

Too tired to talk overlong, he pulled on his pajamas and fell into bed and nick went back to his dorm. Perseus dropped off to sleep almost immediately. He was happy and well-fed and very, very tired. He slept soundly the whole night through.

* * *

Perseus awoke early the next morning, Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he cast a quick wandless tempus to see the time, it was still only five in the morning and Nicklaus was probably still asleep. He decided to continue his martial arts training.

He made his way towards the grounds, it was still dark outside and he started with a mild jog along the black lake and slowly picked up speed. After half an hour of jogging, he decided to venture a bit into the forest and soon found a clearing which was secluded from the rest of the ground. And transfigured a stone into a gladius and started practicing some techniques.

It was still dark, the sun has just begun to rise, and He has been practicing some maneuver for about 20 minutes when a gruff voice came from behind

"Who is there"

Perseus recognized that booming voice, it belonged to the gamekeeper , but before Perseus could raise his hands in a sign of peace, the half-giant had fired two arrows one after another, from his crossbow just as a bit of sunlight shone over Perseus , enough for hagrid to realize that he had fired at a student.

His eyes went wide in worry but he was even more shocked when Perseus didn't show any sign of fear and simply caught the first arrow in his hand, mid-air, merely inches from his head and used his sword to deflect the arrow. And it all happened in matter of seconds.

"What the hell hagrid!"

"I am so sorry, I didn't know it was a student, I just saw the sword and I thought it was someone dangerous" he said in a rush, "and it was dark and I couldn't see you, "

"It's alright hagrid, no harm done" Perseus said

"Oh Merlin I could have killed you"

"I doubt that" Perseus replied as he held up his hand to show him the arrow he had caught and then indicated toward the broken arrow on the ground.

Hagrid followed his gaze and it was then that he realized that Perseus had just caught an arrow mid air and deflected another with a sword.

"You should be a bit more careful with weapons, a word spoken and an arrow fired cannot be taken back Hagrid"

"Yes yes, right" he said sheepishly ," but how did you do that" he asked, and it was now Perseus realized that Hagrid was clearly wary of him

"I am trained in the use of many weapons, hagrid" he replied, "I could have stopped that arrow with my eyes closed ".

Hagrid looked skeptical but then asked

"What are you doing here, and that too at this hour" he asked

"I was working out, practicing, keeping my skills sharp, you know, I hope I didn't break any rule by doing so." he replied

"no, no , atleast no rule that I am aware of, it's just that hardly anyone is up this early"

"aah yes, but I wake up early and work out a bit, to keep my body fit , you see" he said

"Yes , yes"

"Well then, I think it's enough for today, good bye, "Perseus said as he started moving but stopped midway and looked at hagrid and said

"And hagrid , I work out everyday , I hope I won't have to deflect any more arrows in the future, " he said in amusement as he winked at the groundskeeper and made his way back towards the castle just as sun was rising

He entered his dorm and went for the bathroom. Coming out of the shower room, he was surprised to see that he had spent an hour getting ready. Grabbing a scarf after noticing how cold it looked outside, Perseus headed down to the great hall to eat his breakfast.

He passed several students conversing in the hallways on the way of different years and houses. He found though, that he didn't pass very many Slytherins. He figured that maybe because their common room was located in the Dungeons, they may just stick to their own area.

Entering the great hall, he looked around to see the Slytherin table being the most full, yet none of the first years, boys or girls, seemed to be up yet. Scanning the room some more, his eyes landed on Helena , who was also sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table and eating her breakfast.

Shrugging mentally, Perseus moved over to sit beside her and eat breakfast. Many of the students, especially the Ravenclaw were eyeing him carefully, he really couldn't blame them; he doubted any slytherin _chose_ to sit at the Ravenclaw table very often.

"Good morning Helena" he greeted, making the girl turn her head sharply to him before calming down.

"Morning Perseus, what are you doing over here?" she asked her face neutral as she ate her jammed toast that was currently sitting on her plate. Perseus was about to follow her example when suddenly a fruit bowl appeared in front of him along with a glass of milk, his usual breakfast.

'Ahh it looks like rokky is working at Hogwarts now, I will pay him a visit later'.perseus thought as he started with his breakfast.

"How did you do that" Helena asked.

"Do what?" he asked.

"The fruit bowl just appeared out of nowhere , did you use magic, but you didn't even took out your wand or said any spell?".

"Well, I am Perseus black" he said, which irritated her further

"How can you be so arrogant"

But before Perseus could reply , they were joined by nick.

"Good morning guys, how did you sleep Helena" he asked as he took a seat on the other side of Helena.

"Fine, and you?"

"ohh great " he said as he took an apple to start his breakfast.

"I see, so, how do you find your house?" she asked, trying to start up some conversation. Perseus shrugged again as he continued to eat, he had just noticed how many stares they were getting by sitting at this table.

"ohh its fine, It's just a bit chilly" he answered, "I guess I'm jealous of you in that respect.".

"We also are required to attend weekly study sessions with the older students to enhance our learning; you guys got anything like that?"She asked.

He shrugged, "no".

"My grandmother told me about Slytherins… I'd be careful if I were you" she warned Nicklaus, clearly worried about him.

"I will be fine, don't worry" he said giving her a soft smile.

These gestures were enough for Perseus to conclude that they both were very close to each other and cared a lot about each other.

"So Helena "Perseus said, "You didn't tell me that you are the princess of Olympia "

Her eyes widened in shock but she composed herself "how did you know"

Here she gave nick a questioning look, who shook his head and gave her an 'I am innocent 'look

"Well I have my ways" Perseus replied.

"I am not surprised that you know about that, but please don't tell anyone I am kind of hoping of keeping it a secret" she said.

"ok" Perseus said.

"Wait, why aren't you surprised that Perseus knows about it" nick asked her.

"Well , he is a Black "she said as if that explained everything

"So?"Nick said and she gave him a frustrated look.

"Blacks are the de jure rulers of Oceania"she replied and nick looked at Perseus for confirmation to which Perseus just gave him a nod.

"ohh" nick said. "When you both royalty are done with breakfast, you want to go look around the castle?" asked the boy, looking at Helena and Perseus who both shrugged and agreed "awesome, we'll just wait for Ced to get here, I told him we'd go exploring together" he explained, looking to his two new friends and waiting for confirmation. Helena nodded, signifying that she was ok with it and Perseus just shrugged, not caring either way.

After fifteen minutes spent watching nick hovel down his food, Cedric arrived to eat breakfast; when he was done, the four headed out of the great hall to explore the castle.

Perseus had, surprisingly to the group, suggested they map out their different classrooms, less they get lost tomorrow and not be able to find their way between each of them. So after they found the Potions classroom in the dungeons, the Transfiguration classroom near Gryffindor tower, the Charms classroom near the Ravenclaw tower and the Library, the Defence Against the Dark Arts class on the seventh floor and the greenhouse just outside on the grounds.

By the time they were done exploring, it was lunch time so the four of them headed back to the great hall to eat lunch. Perseus, however, stopped before the entered the door.

"I'll take a rain check on dinner, I'm just going to walk around for a bit" he said, and without waiting for an answer, moved towards the dungeons but took a different corridor than the one leading towards the common room. He reached the end of the corridor which was directly below the great hall and saw a painting of fruit bowl on the wall. He tickled the pear in the painting, which squirmed then laughed and changed into a green doorknob .

He opened the door, He had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the great hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, when something small hurtled towards him from the middle of the room, squealing "master Perseus "

"rokky" Perseus said as the house elf stood in front of him,

"How come you are working at Hogwarts ?"

"Rokky is master Perseus's elf and lord black got permission for rokky to work for master Perseus at Hogwarts "he said

"Ohhh " Perseus said as he conjured a comfortable looking chair and sat on it,"very well than rokky, can I get some lunch,"

"Yes master "

Perseus had lunch in the kitchen itself , he was still amazed at the magic that the elves used, and how stupid wizards were , to not harness that power.

"so rokky , do you know any place at Hogwarts which can be used for training "he asked

"Rokky does not know, but rokky will ask the other elfs "he said

"very well then" Perseus said

He bid rokky farewell and made his way towards the great hall where he again met with nick, Helena and cedric. On his way he noticed that many students were giving him a wide berth and were wary of him.

"Hey Perseus, is it true,?" nick asked.

"What are you talking about "

"Everyone is talking about it" cedric said, "that you were in the forbidden forest in the morning and hagrid , considering you a threat due to not being able to see you properly, fired a dozen arrows at you using his cross bow , and you deflected them all with a sword , that too with your eyes closed and then you cut hagrid's bow in half"

'aah it would seem that hagrid is not capable of keeping things to himself and the famous Hogwarts rumor mill has done its job' Perseus thought and then said

"It was just one arrow"

"So you did reflect it with a sword" asked Helena.

"Yes" Perseus said

"Wow, that's so cool" said Nick

And then they parted ways, nick and cedric towards the dungeons, and their respective common room , Helena towards the ravenclaw tower and Perseus accompanied her as he had to visit the library.

"You must be really good with a blade "she asked

"I am good at everything "Perseus said, knowing fully well that this would irritate her and that's what happened as she just gave him an annoyed look. He didn't know why, but he liked annoying Helena , which baffled him to no end.

They were all talking amongst themselves about that encounter while they made their way towards the library, as such they didn't notice when 5 senior students surrounded them and cornered them in an empty corridor. Perseus was the first to notice them and knew that those students wanted to cause trouble.

Going by their robes, three of them were grifindors and two were in huffelpuf

"Well well well, look Raymond, it would seem like these ickle firsties are lost" one said.

"And what gave you the impression that we are lost" Perseus said in a cold voice.

"Don't you dare say a word black, I know your family very well , evil , all of you" one of the griffindor; Raymond ,said with pure hatred in his voice.

"It would seem you don't know my family that well, for you would have known that we blacks do not like it when someone insults us" Perseus said in a hard voice as his eyes glowed a bit

"listen guy, we don't want any trouble," Helena said," let's go Perseus"

"Lets go Perseus, we can't fight them" she said again, this in a very low tone that only Perseus heard him.

But before they could leave, one of the student pulled out his wand and said

"Where do you think you are going"

By now a few students had gathered around them.

"Put your wand away, before you hurt yourself" Perseus said as he pulled out his own wand in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the speed with which Perseus had pulled out his, the senior student did falter for a moment but in a attempt to look bold and brave in front of his friends, he fired a stunner at Perseus , who caught it with his wand and deflected it towards another and he went down immediately.

The remaining four students were shocked to see a first year student deflecting the stunner , Perseus took advantage of that and fired two consecutive stunners taking down two more of them . by now the remaining two students had taken out their wands and fired a stunner at Perseus who ducked them with ease, sending a stunner of his own , which hit his opponent square in the chest. But unfortunately, Raymond has managed to send a stunner towards Perseus and before Perseus could raise a shield or deflect it, the stunner hit him.

What happened next shocked everyone the spell which should have stunned Perseus , just fizzled out, it was nullified just as it reached Perseus.

Perseus fired a weak "reducto" at him which struck his wand, resulting in very bright flash bang. Which temporarily blinded Perseus and Raymond. Fortunately, Helena was not in the range of the blast.

Perseus couldn't see anything as when he tried to open his eyes , all he say was brightness , which also gave him an headache. He was aware that Raymond was still on his feet and just then,

"Oh shit, my eyes" came raymond's voice.

Listening to the voice, Perseus was able to deduce the position of Raymond, and he stood straight, eyes closed , raised his wand in that direction and fired a stunner and he knew he has hit his mark when he heard a sound of 'thump'

Everyone , was shocked; in a matter of a minute , Perseus has taken down five fifth year students and he has also hit Raymond with a stunner with his eyes closed.

Perseus was blinded temporarily, he could still hear everything around him; the voice Helena and surprisingly professor McGonagall's voice. His eyes were hurting badly and his head was aching badly.

"Are you alright Perseus"

"Perseus"

"Accompany him to the hospital wing , Ms Angelis "

Those Were the last words Perseus heard before he lost consciousness.

* * *

They must have just reached the hospital wing when Perseus regained his consciousness , as Perseus found himself lying on a bed and heard professor a woman's voice.

"ohh dear merlin, what happened Minerva" came the voice of the matron as Nicklaus helped Perseus sit on a bed.

"The usual poppy, students causing mischief and getting into trouble "she replied

"Yes, but tell me what happened so that I can treat them"

"When my spell hit his wand , it broke" Perseus said suddenly , surprising Helena who was under the impression that Perseus was still unconscious

"and that somehow created a flash bang of sorts, and I can't see properly now" he said the last part in frustration.

"ohhh " she said and after sometimes " open your eyes Mr. black "

He did just that and she poured three drops of liquid in both of his eyes and then closed them.

"Now keep your eyes close for a few minutes" she said

"Now I would like to hear the whole matter" McGonagall said and Helena then recited the entire story.

After listening to the whole matter McGonagall rounded up on the fifth year students who had been revived by now.

"I am ashamed of all of you , and speacially you mister gray ., you all will be serving detentions, and 50 points from your houses each."she said," and you mister black, since you only defended yourself , I am letting you go scot free. "

"Thank you professor "he said

"Now Mister Black and Mister Gray , you will be wearing these goggles to protect your eyes from extreme lights , and three drops of this liquid every morning for a weak" instructed the medi-witch handing Perseus a pair of goggles and a vial. Perseus wore them and opened his eyes.

He could see properly again but there was still a bit of strain in his eyes.

"Now off you go, all of you" McGonagall said.

Once outside the hospital wing, Helena asked him

"Are you alright"

"I think I will go back to the dorm and take some rest." Perseus told her.

"That's a good idea Perseus I will go along with you "she said as she put her hand on his shoulder

"No need for that Helena I can go myself" he said coldly as he shrugged of her hand.

"Ohh ok well then, take care" she said , a bit taken aback by his attitude.

Once in his dorm, he took of his goggles and changed into his night suite and went to bed. He didn't come for dinner.

By the time of dinner, Perseus's defeat of five fifth year students had spread like wildfire, and coupled with the rumor of his encounter with hagrid and overnight Perseus has gained a very dangerous reputation.

Perseus awoke early the next morning as the sun's rays peeked over the mountain and shone in his face through the window of the first year boy's dorms. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around for his goggles and wore them and then saw the time, it was seven in the morning.

His eyes still hurt a bit when exposed to extreme sunlight , and as per matron's instructions , Perseus has to wear goggles for the entire week. Snape was furious when he heard of the incident and as a result Those fifth year students were punished severely; 50 points from each of them, and detention for the entire week with filch .

Perseus grabbed a pair of jeans, shirt, jumper and a fresh pair of underwear and headed into the showers to get ready for the day. Quickly finishing his morning ablutions.

Stealthily walking down the corridors as he thought of the knowledge of the castle from the memories of voldemort, he passed one person whom he wished he could have avoided, Peeves the Poltergeist.

Perseus wasn't in the mood for Peeves. He was holding Dung bombs. but when Peeves was about to drop them on him and some other students, Perseus whipped out his wand and cast a minor exoticism spell that had hit Peeves through his chest. He yelled in pain and flew toward the walls while swearing at Perseus on the way. And the students around him gave him a shocked but grateful looks.

Smiling, he went to have breakfast. And joined nick on the slytherin table who was talking to the fifth year prefects, mark and Rachel.

"Hey how are you feeling Perseus" Rachel asked.

" Ohh I am fine, thank you for asking Rachel" he said as he starting eating his fruits.

"You did great Black," mark said," you showed those griffindorks their place"

"You alright mate?" nick asked in what Perseus realized was genuine concern " I went to check up on you, but you were still asleep and I decided to let you rest"

" I am fine Nicklaus"

"Rachel , has Professor Snape given you the schedules yet?" Mark asked, between forkfuls.

She nodded. "I'll take care of the first years if you want to get the others."

"Sounds good."

Rachel handed Perseus his schedule, and he stopped eating to study it. It was written in a very neat script.

Transfigurationn first thing with Ravenclaw," Perseus said

They finished their breakfast and headed for thetransfigurationn class

Perseus entered the Transfiguration classroom with the rest of the slitherin and Ravenclaws. Taking a seat at the front with nick, he watched with amusement as his fellow first years looked at the stiffly sitting cat on the desk. Perseus knew it was McGonagall in her animagus form as the aura of the cat was same as that of her. But he waited for the others to be seated before he discreetly mouthed to the cat, "Hello Professor"

After every one was settled, the professor jumped from the desk and morphed in mid- air, coming to stand in front of Perseus's desk as several students whispered and one fell from his desk in excitement. Swishing her tartan robe around her, McGonagall l went to the blackboard before speaking, "Transfiguration is a branch of magic that focuses more on finesse then power" she had explained "it is a very dangerous branch of magic in the hands of a master and thus, one of the most complex branches of magic, so I warn you now, anyone caught fooling around in my class will not be welcome back in the future. Transfiguration is a branch of magic that focuses on the alteration of the form or appearance of an object, via the alteration of the object's molecular structure.

Swishing her wand, she ended her introduction by transfiguring her desk into a living pig that even gave out a few startled squeals.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Turning it back to a desk, she walked towards her blackboard and started dictating, "Currently, Transfiguration is divided into four branches. They are, in ascending order of difficulty: Transformation, Vanishment, Conjuration and Untransfiguration.

"We will study the divisions of Transformation in a more detailed way later. Now all of you have been provided a wooden matchstick. Try to transform it into a matchstick. You may begin now", McGonagall l finished with a flourish.

Perseus took out his wand and flicked it at the matchstick, manipulating his magic to his will and transformed it on his first try. He then proceeded to change the matchstick in to a needle and vice-versa for the remainder of the lesson.

When McGonagall l had seen him turning his match stick into a needle and needle into a match stick repeatedly at the end of the lesson, her eyes widened slightly before offering Perseus a rare smile that looked foreign on the stern witch's features

"How did you do that" nick asked him

"well there is more to transfrugation than just saying the incantation and wand movements "Perseus told him in low voice, "you have to imagine the matchstick , then picture it changing into needle and then picture it transforming into metal."

Nick followed his instructions and by the end of the class , he was also able to transfigure his matchstick into a wodden needle. And McGonagall was very impressed by that and awarded both nick and Perseus 10 points each.

As the class was leaving after the lesson was over, McGonagall l called him back for a moment. Perseus motioned nick to move while he dealt with the professor.

"You wanted to speak with me, Professor?", Perseus asked curiously.

"I was very surprised by your performance in class today. "she said," now tell me have you done that spell before"

"No professor I have never done that spell before "he said

Which was truth of course; Perseus had never transformed a matchstick into a needle before, so technically he wasn't lying

"But I won't lie to you professor "he continued , and McGonagall l looked at him with interest," I have been doing magic since a very young age"

"ohhh" was all she could say, "but how did you get a wand?"

"Whatever gave you the idea that I used a wand professor" he said

Now this shocked her , but Perseus continued,

"You can say that I had the best teacher"

As Perseus turned to leave, McGonagall l called out, " who taught you, Mr. black ?"

Perseus smirked as he replied, " Life, Professor." He then gave a sad smile and With a bow, Perseus swished out of the classroom leaving McGonagall l stunned.

Perseus and nick had entered the Dungeon, and sat in the front row, both eager to learn the fascinating subject of Potions and were waiting for their professor to arrive, when suddenly the doors to the room burst open admitting a scowling Professor Snape striding up to the front of his classroom and to his desk with his black billowing robes flowing behind him.

The image of Professor Snape glaring down from his elevated position at his desk surrounding by several bottled animal parts and other Potions ingredients in the cold dark dungeons of Hogwarts served to intimidate several of the more timid first years; Perseus however, sat unfazed, ready to learn although he knew a lot about potions already, but even voldemort respected Snape's skill in potion making.

Like every other professor, Snape went through the class registry, stopping briefly on Perseus's name to comment on his presence.

"Ah yes, Perseus Black" he began, spitting out his surname as if it were a disease "a true phenomenon that you would end up in the house of the cunning , you seem to have a knack for causing trouble, but I won't accept that attitude in my class" he finished snidely.

Many of the first years looked on between the two in confusion while Perseus's eyes merely narrowed slightly, not willing to take the bait and give this _man_ a reason to punish him.

Pereus had known that Snape hates the very name' black', but he thought that being in slytherin might have mitigated that hatred a bit. Apparently he was wrong.

After finishing with the registry, Snape put it away before locking eyes with the rest of the class. His eyes were as black as coal and held no emotion or warmth. Perseus thought that they reminded him of two dark tunnels. After several moments of silence, he began to speak to them in a voice that was barely above a whisper but seemed to cut through the silence of the room like a hot knife through butter.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art that is Potions brewing" he began, his voice just screamed, despite its low tone, that if you interrupted him there _would_ be pain "As there is very little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will believe that this isn't magic. I hardly expect for you to see the beauty in the softly simmering cauldrons with their shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that seep through your veins that can bewitch your mind or ensnare your senses…If you pay attention in my class, I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory or even stopper death – that is of course if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

There was silence met with his declaration. Most of the ravenclaws seemed to be quite intimidated and self conscious after his 'introduction' while many of the slytherins seemed to be determined to prove they weren't like the usual 'dunderhead'. and suddenly he heard his name being called out

"Black!" Snape barked "what Potion would I administer to someone to cure Petrifaction?"

Recalling what he had read in his first year books, and the actual Potion he remembered from his _second_ year books, Perseus answered "A Mandrake Draught, sir" he answered respectfully, despite the shock the answer instilled to the Professor, who clearly hadn't expected Perseus to know or the others who had no idea of the answer either. Many Ravenclaws in the room could be seen scribbling down the question and answer fiercely on a spare piece of parchment.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer "Lucky guess" he replied "Let's try again, for what purpose would I use shredded boomslang skin for?"

"You can use it for Polyjuice Potion Professor Snape !" he said

"What is a bezoar?"

"A stone found in the stomach of a goat that will cure most poisons," Perseus replied.

"What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

"They are the same plant, which is also called aconite."

Severus progressed into more difficult questions, trying to stump the black heir. But perseus answered each question , thanks to the dark lord's knowledge and his great aunt Cassiopeia's tutoring. Finally Snape asked two of the more difficult ones that his seventh year students had trouble answering.

"Why is it difficult to produce the antidote for the Draught of Living Death?"

"Because the brewer needs to know how much the victim was given and have a sample of their blood from before the Draught was given," Perseus answered.

"Why is Veritaserum clear and when was it first brewed?" This was a tricky question, he normally asked this only of his NEWT-class students.

"First of all, Veritaserum is the most powerful truth-potion in existence. It's clear because it has the perfect balance of the ingredients considered 'Light' and 'Dark'. It was first brewed 85 years ago by Emma prince. she did it after the man who murdered her husband was allowed to walk away because he was able to lie under the truth-potion used by the Ministry at that time," Perseus met his from under his goggles without blinking as he finished.

Snape smirked slightly at the answer, though, Perseus mused, it wasn't as cruel as his other smirks – this was probably as close to Snape would ever come to being pleased.

"20 points to slyterin for an excellent knowledge of advanced Potions and brewing" he said and Perseus thought that Snape won't hate him as much now , since he seemed pleased with Perseus's knowledge.

"Well, why aren't you writing this down?!" he barked to the ravenclaws who had looked at the knowledge battle with confusion mostly. There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment as those who hadn't been taking notes began to do so.

All in all potions was a pleasant affair now.

"A charm is a spell that adds certain properties to an object or creature. Charms are distinguished from transfigurations in that a charm adds or changes properties of an object; it focuses on altering what the object does as opposed to what the object is. For example, the Colour Change Charm causes something to flash different colours; the Levitation Charm causes an object to levitate; the Cheering Charm improves upon a creature's mood. An object that has a lasting charm placed on it is called bewitched though charms in general appear to last longer than other spells", Flitwick lectured enthusiastically as the students listened avidly,

"Charms can be some of the most powerful and game-changing spells in existence. Spells such as curses, jinxes, and hexes are referred to as "dark charms. Successful casting of a charm is achieved through concentration, precise wand movements, and the proper pronunciation of an incantation. When a charm is casted poorly it will fail and the caster runs the risk of it backfiring."

Charms had been boring for Perseus. Having done all the spells before, he had been bored within seconds and so, instead of listening to the endless repetition of the incantation 'Wingardium Leviosa' . He just levitated his feather but Nicklaus was a surprise in Charms.

He too leaviated his feather a moment after Perseus's . They both made their feathers fight each other in mid air.

"Impressive, look at that . Mr. black and Mr. Mikaelson have successfully done the charm, 20 points each to slytherin" professor fitwlick said.

"So how did you do that" Perseus asked nick

"I don't know, I think I have a knack for charms, I am able to do every charm pretty easily "he replied.

As the class was leaving after the lesson was over, fitwlick too called him back for a moment.

"You wanted to speak with me, Professor?", Perseus asked cutiously, getting a feeling of déjà-vu .

"Yes, Mr. Black. First of all, are you feeling well now?", he asked

"Yes professor, I just have to wear these goggles "Perseus said as he pointed to the goggles he was already wearing, "other than that, I am perfectly fine".

"I heard about your duel yesterday, to defeat 5 fifth year students , that's impressive , and I then also heard about your skill with a sword from hagrid. I must say I am impressed. "he said

"Thank you professor"

"Regular classes might not be able to offer you much of a challenge , since I can clearly see you are way ahead of your peers." He said then after a moment's pause he continued.

" Mr. black , how would like to join the dueling club of Hogwarts, I am the supervisor of that club and I am sure you would be a great addition to the club , despite the fact that never before a first year student has managed to make his place in the club"

Perseus thought for a moment and then replied.

"I will be delighted professor" he said

"Very well then, "he said as he got around his desk and motioned Perseus to follow him as he left the class.

"Follow me, Mr. Black"

They went, up the marble staircase , and went to the third floor and still Professor fitwlick didn't say a word to him. He wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Perseus walking confidently beside him. Maybe he was taking him to Dumbledore.

He stopped outside a classroom, the door was already open and he silently went inside the class and stood at back of the class and Perseus followed suite .

Perseus realized that it was the newt level, professor babbling's ancient rune class and the said professor was writing a set of runes on the board had her back to them

"now, I know you must all be wondering, what runic language is this , well let me tell you its not furthark runes, I know its not in your syllabus, as a matter of fact only a dozen or so people in Europe can translate them, but anyone of you who can tell me about these runes will be exempted from doing any assignments this year, "she said , and she was so excited about the rune that she didn't even notice the tiny professor and a first year student standing at the back of her class

Perseus looked at the runes and laughed inwardly, for he knew no one would know anything about those runes, let alone translate them.

His doubts were confirmed when he saw the blank looks of the students

"ohk" babbling said," never mind then"

She hid her disappointment well, and was about to rub the board clean when she heard a soft yet confident voice from the back of the class.

"I can, professor" Perseus said

All the students in the class turned back to look at him and were surprised to hear it. , even fitwlick looked at the first year student in amazement.

Perseus recognized Nymphadora Tonks , who was giving him a weird look

Professor babbling turned back and zeroed on the source of the voice and, and from the black goggles that he wore , she recognized that it was the first year student that hagrid was talking about and had taken down five fifth year student in a duel according to Minerva.

She was so shocked that she didn't even noticed fitwlick standing next to him. But Before the professor could say anything Perseus spoke up.

"The runes generally used in Europe are the younger futhark runes, that is the viking runes , but these runes on the board , are ancient Greek runes , and you would be right to say that only a dozen of people in europe would be able to translate then for they are one of the five oldest sets of runes."

Perseus said confidently and gave the young, now surprised professor a knowing smile as he continued speaking" the first one, it means a SHIELD, the second is FIRE, third one is ASHES and the last on is of PROTECTION" he finished

"This " Perseus said and took a dramatic pause and then continued

"Is the basic runic scheme of the dragon ward, "

Babbling was even more shocked now , not only had the first year student recognized the runes but had also translated them , moreover he also knew that this was the basic scheme of the dragon ward.

She then noticed that everyone was now looking at her , to confirm whether Mr. Black was correct or not.

"absolutely correct" she said," simply amazing Mr. Black, how did you know that"

"Well I have been studying ancient runes since a very young age"

"that's amazing," she said and it was then that she noticed professor fitwlick's presence and addressed him immediately,

"professor fitwlick , I am so sorry sir , I did not see you there " she said, clearly she held fitwlick in high regard.

"No problem, bathilda , and can I borrow Weasley and Tonks for a moment please "he said

"yes yes, sure thing" she said as she motioned for two students who were sitting together at the front row.

"Follow me, you three," said Professor fitwlick, and they marched on up the corridor, they both looking curiously at Perseus.

"In here."

Professor fitwlick pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.

"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor fitwlick slammed the door behind him and turned to face the three students

"Black, this is Charlie Weasley and Tonks . Tonks ,Weasley - I've found you the third member of your team for the tournament next year."

Their expression changed from puzzlement to delight.

"Are you serious, Professor?" tonks asked.

"yes yes, absolutely , you must have heard by now that Perseus defeated five fifth year students in a duel yesterday "

"whooa , that actually happened , I thought it was the work of the rumor mill "

"No it did happen, and from what hagrid tells me, Mr. black is pretty good with a sword too" professor fitwlick said enthusiastically .

"Whoa wait, time out, what third member , what team ,?" Perseus asked

It was Charlie weasley who was quiet till now, that answered .

"Mahoutokoro institute of magic, in japan , hold a tournament after every 13 years , worlds most dangerous and toughest dueling competition, all the eleven magical institutes are invited to participate in the tournament . Every institute has to send a team of three. Hogwarts is taking part in this tournament after a 78 years, but we were unable to find the third member of the team"

Perseus didn't reply to this immediately,'it is great opportunity ,' he thought and then said

"I am in"

"Wait wait, you might have taken down some untrained duelers, that doesn't mean you are ready for that level of fight" Weasley said.

Professor fitwlick was about to say something but Perseus beat him to it.

"Don't you dare question my abilities weasley ," Perseus said in a very serious tone," how about this, if I defeat both of you in a duel, then I am in"

"That's a fair deal" tonks said at once.

"Very well then , we will meet on Saturday, at 5 in the evening"weasley said

" I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore about this then." Professor fitwlick said ,"Now go back to your class"

And they both left and fitwlick went to talk to professor dumbeldore about this, Perseus was left too and passed professor babling's class when professor babbling came out of the class and called out his name.

"Mr. BLACK" she said

Perseus turned and walked back to her and said

"yes professor"

"you have a lot of potential in the field of runes , clearly lady Cassiopeia has taught you well, I would like to discuss something with you, how about you report to me on next Friday, at 5 in the evening"

"Sure thing professor" Perseus replied. To which she just gave a soft smile.

* * *

Perseus and nick were walking towards their dormitory, Perseus has gone to duel tonks and weasley as per the deal and true to his words he had defeated them both.

"that was so cool dude"

And he was right too for Perseus had defeated both of them in one on one duel as well as intwo on one , Perseus thought about the duels as they walked.

 **Flashback**

He had faught tonks first.

He had flicked out his wand and sent three disarmers and a stinging hex in quick succession. His opponent however quickly put up a shield and deflected the hexes back at Perseus. Perseus snarled and conjured a marble block. Blocking the curses, he sent back the disintegrating block at breakneck speed at his opponent who yelped as she dropped down to save her head from being squashed.

She Fired a slew of rapid fire curses at an impressive speed however Perseus with his increased speed easily avoided most of the spells while he batted away the others. Finally a disarmer caught the girl on her chest and her wand came flying to his hand. And she screamed in frustration Grinning triumphantly Perseus said

"I won, Nymphadora "

The girl if possible got even angrier as she let off a stream of obscenities that would have made a sailor blush. Finally, she seemed to calm down and said, "Don't call me Nymphadora, Never you mind, where the bloody hell did you learn all these spells and conjuration? That's sixth year stuff seriously."

And Perseus just gave her a smile and said

"I am a Black my dear"

And that did the trick as he saw a satisfied look on her face. That was another benefit of the name BLACK, his knowledge of advance magic was attributed to him being a black and his only living relative being arcturus black and Cassiopeia black, both pretty famous across europe for their knowledge . He motioned for Charlie to come forth and start the duel, now unlike tonks, Charlie possessed a wide arsenal of spells but he relied heavily on charms , and so Perseus adopted a different technique .

He rapidly fired, stunners after stunners at the weasley , he did not havd to use the runes on his wand to initiate firing stunners in quick succession , but simply fired stuners normally, Charlie had to stop firing spells at Perseus and had to go defensive and started dodging but Charlie just couldn't match the speed with which Perseus was firing spells and ultimately erected a shield , but Perseus did not stop his attack and his shield gave away and a stunner hit him square in the chest.

He had then revived him and then tonks had suggested a two on one duel to which Charlie was reluctant at first but both tonks and nick got him to fight somehow.

Perseus was tired by now , and he knew he had to end the duel soon , and thus as soon as the duel started Perseus aimed his wand at tonks who had erected a shield , and yelled

"Magna Tonitrus"

A lound thunderclap echoed in the room and a thunderbolt came out of Perseus's wand and went through tonks's shield like a knife through butter and hit her, knocking her out, the downside of using this spell was that by the time Perseus leveled his wand at Charlie , he had already fired a stunner at Perseus.

The stunner was already too close to Perseus for him to dodge , so Perseus just raised his hand and intercepted the red bolt, which was then nullified, and simultaneously fired a stunner at a shocked Charlie, knocking him out too

He had just revived them when they heard the sound of clapping from behind and turned to see it was nick and professor fitwlick

"an amazing show of skills , mister black, now I am sure both Mr. Weasley and Ms. Tonks won't doubt your abilities anymore, and professor Dumbledore has given the assent to send the three of you for the tournament next year."

 **Flashback ends**

"You kicked their asses " Nick said to which Perseus just gave a smirk and they talked a bit more about the duel as they walked.

So engrossed they were in their conversation that they did not notice someone standing in front of them and Perseus collided with him and then fell , and his goggles fell in the process.

"Sorry professor" Perseus said as he got to his feet and picked up his goggles, and pocketed them.

"Watch your steps, mister black" he said "that would be a detention with—" he stopped suddenly as he looked at Perseus. His eyes went wide and shock was evident on his face. And it was then Perseus noted that Snape was staring straight into his eyes , with an expression of disbelief on his face

"Professor, are you alright " Nick asked.

That was enough to break Snape out of his daze.

"aah yes , yes I am fine, what are you all waiting for, get out of my sight" he said

They then walked away from the potion master leaving Snape to ponder over his discovery.

"What did you do to him, Perseus, one moment he was looking at you and was to assign detention, and the next he looked like he had seen a ghost"

"I don't know mate" Perseus said, but he knew why Snape had reacted like that, he had looked at Perseus's eyes, the one prominent feature he has inherited from his mother , and Perseus knew for sure that Snape had recognized him.

And he was right too for Snape was thinking along the same lines

'Those eyes, lily's eyes, it's him, how is that even possible?, I will have to tell lily, but first I have to be sure about it' Snape thought as he composed himself and went to his chambers.

* * *

 _ **so yes snape knows , but he keep it a secret , what will the potters and dumbledore do when the will know the truth .**_

 _ **keep reading to find out.**_

 _ **as usual , please review guys ,**_

 _ **thanks a** **lot.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6- REVELATIONS**

 **AU-**

 **so here is the next chapter , as promised within 24 hours. it not as long as my usual ones but the next one will be.**

 **next chapter within 24 hours too.**

* * *

Perseus was currently sitting in his dorm, in his hand was a rock, a rather simple looking rock. Perseus then used his carving knife to carve some runes on the rock.

'αρχίζουν τυχαία ελεγχόμενη πτήση'

"looks fine " Perseus said out loud as he finished carving runes on the stone and then tapped the stone with his finger and felt a tiny amount of his magic leave his body, enough to charge the runes.

And just then the stone glowed bright blue for a moment , and then it started floating and hovered midair for another moment before it started flying around the room in a totally random pattern.

'This should do' Perseus thought as he raised his wand and fired a weak 'reducto' at the , now randomly flying stone, and missed slightly. He tried to find some kind of pattern in the flight of the stone, but there was none, it flew just like a snitch.

It took him ten minutes , but ultimately his spell hit the stone .

'A great idea for target practice' Perseus thought and then started carving runes on the rest of the stones and thought over the past few days and his classes.

One of the least interesting class was herbiology , he knew the study material by heart, and professor sprout seemed like a likable woman, but he just didn't have a green thumb .

Transfrugation and charms were boring as usual since he didn't have much to do in those lectures and so he would just read some advance books and a lot of time he would even flunk the class. At least Nicklaus was good at charms, not just good , the boy was exceptionally good at charms , while he didn't have as much knowledge of charms as Perseus did, he did have a knack for performing most of the charms on his first try. So he was not the only one who got bored in that class.

There wasn't much to learn from professor castle in DADA class, but professor castle has begun training him, Nymphadora and Charlie in dueling along with professor Flitwick and also shared his aurror experience . He would often compare Perseus's fighting style to Gellert Grindelwald as he was one of those who had faught against the dark forces of Grindelwald and has seen the former dark lord in action.

Which had shocked the trio at first , but the retired aurror then went on to explain that, despite being a dark wizard, Grindelwald was one of the best duelers in the world and the sheer raw power behind his spells was astounding plus he was known for his extensive knowledge in battle magiks , something that even Dumbeldore and you-know-who didn't posses and the only reason Albus Dumbeldore was able to defeat him was because he was a bit more skilled and creative.

Then there was potions, professor Snape has been acting a bit strange, not only towards him but in general. He was hardly seen anymore, not even during the meal times, the only time he could be found was during his lectures.

Perseus was now sure that Snape suspected something , that is if he didn't know the truth already and he feared it was only a matter of time before he would have the confrontation he had dreaded for a long time.

The class that Perseus enjoyed the most was History of Magic taught by Binns. He would usually spend the time in the class to sneak in his own books and have a quiet read. Perseus was just thankful that no one from his own house or the Gryffindors had spotted him or they might just feel the need to stick their noses in his business and stop his free study period.

Perseus remembered that he had also written a letter to his grandfather in that class and has to post it soon as he picked up the letter from his bedside table and surveyed it.

 _Dear grandfather_

 _I hope you are doing well. Sorry for writing so late but I got caught up in a few things in the first week itself. I have been doing well so far due to your extensive theoretical coaching and great-aunt Cassiopeia's tutoring and thus The practical is almost as easy as breathing. To tell you the truth I feel a bit disappointed with the pace that we are going at. I have taken to studying advanced books in my free time. Oh, and I was sorted into slytherin , But I guess you already know that ( thanks for the window picture) and I have also met rokky._

 _I have made a few friends, or should I say acquaintances. One of them is Nicklaus mikaelson, he is an alright bloke, but he is a prodigy in charms. Then there is Helena Angelis, yes of the royal family of Olympia. The last one is Cedric Diggory though he is more Nicklaus's friend than mine. He is nice enough even though he is in Hufflepuff._

 _And now to more serious matter. I was selected by professor Flitwick, to be a part of a three member team that would represent Hogwarts in a dueling tournament at Mahoutokoro institute in japan , next year._

 _The other members of the team is , gues who, Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda's daughter and also Charlie weasley , they are all right I guess. I get along well with Nymphadora, even though she is still furious that she has not been able to land a single spell on me till now._

 _So how is the sale of the Black screen coming along,? And what are you plans for Christmas ?_

 _Yours affectionately_

 _Perseus Black_

Just then Nick entered his dorm and said

"hey buddy lets go, it's our first flying lesson"

'Ohh the flying lesson for the first year students was planned today, I'd totally forget' Perseus thought

Thinking about riding a broomstick brought forth a memory of Perseus's first flight on the broom, when he was 7 years old,and apparently his last, not because he was bad, no on the contrary he was extremely good.

Flying had given him a sense of joy that very few activities could but that joy had soon turned to tribulation when his grandfather had praised his skills on a broom and had accidently voiced that he thought that Perseus probably got his flying skills from James potter.

And that was the last time Perseus had touched a broom.

But he had decided that he won't let that trivial fact pull him down anymore , and he will give flying a chance again, and thus he immediately got up and changed into proper attire.

Perseus quietly followed Nicklaus towards the Hogwarts grounds to where the first year students would learn to fly a broomstick. Perseus saw to his annoyance that they were last two to arrive, if the annoyed stares of the first year of slytherins and Gryffindors were anything to go by.

On the ground stood two dozen evenly spaced school broomsticks separating the group of curious and eager students, and the flying instructor and Quidditch referee Madam Hooch. Madam Hooch stood with her arms crossed in her Quidditch gear staring them down with yellow, hawk like eyes.

"Well, now that everyone's here" she said, sending a scathing look at Perseus and Nicklaus "everyone stand by a broom – come on, hurry up!"

Everyone scurried over to a broom at her impatient tone and stood beside it waiting for further instructions. Perseus looked down at the broom he stood beside; it was old and rather weak looking with the twigs pointing out at odd angles.

"Now, I want you to place your hand over the broom" Madam Hooch yelled from the front of the group "and yell UP!" she demonstrated by doing it herself and having her broom jump into her hand.

Perseus did as he was told when they were instructed to begin. Just as he had expected, the broom jumped right into his hand instantly, however, not many shared his success. The only other people who seemed to get it on their first tries were the Weasley twins, angelica spinet , another girl in his year from Gryffindor . Nicklaus's broom wobbled for a bit before it simply rolled over – this of course, didn't sit well with the boy.

"Up…up…UP!" Nicklaus yelled, but to no avail, the boy then turned to look at Perseus in surprise when he saw the broom resting in his grip

"How did you do it Perseus? I've been yelling 'UP' forever…" Nicklaus began to question while walking over to Perseus, however, as soon as he mentioned the magic word, the broom shot up like a rocket and him on the forehead knocking him down.

After Nicklaus recovered, Madam Hooch instructed them on how to grip their brooms correctly and how to mount them without slipping off the end. Perseus, apparently, didn't need any aid with his grip as he had gotten it right instinctively – something that their instructor praised him on.

"Ok" Hooch began, interrupting the class "when I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off the ground – hard – and just hover a few feet off the ground before landing immediately" she instructed "Ok, one – two – three!" she blew her whistle and everyone rose of the ground a few feet, some more steady then others. Perseus just hovered there in midair for a few moments, enjoying the feel of floating on the piece of wood before looking around to see several students standing on the floor and standing as far away as possible from their brooms, probably scared from their first flying experience.

As the others adjusted to their brooms, Perseus got bored and was now doing somersaults on the broom like the brooms were going out of commission. Madam Hooch at first looked as if she was going to protest, then thought better of it and proceeded to guide the others. Except Perseus, the Weasley twins, Angelica Spinet and another girl from grifindor , and Angelina Johnson had shown talent for flying and Hooch advised them to try out for the team next year.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in the staff room waiting for his teachers to arrive so they could start the half yearly staff meeting. He was wondering about Perseus Black who had arrived this year at Hogwarts and was excelling in all the subjects. Seeing his marks Albus couldn't help but draw comparison between him and another child who had attended Hogwarts fifty years ago and had broken all academic records. It seemed that Mr. Black was destined to break his records.

Dumbledore wasn't surprised by Perseus's skill with a wand and his ability to perform extremely well in any branch of magic . He was a Black, a family which was probably the only one that could actually back their claim of pureblood supremacy, as Blacks have in the past produced extremely powerfull and skilled wizards , to whom magic came naturally and they also had a distinct advantage of learning magic before Hogwarts , not caring about any ministry regulations. Some names came to his mind immediately

Sirius Black was an exceptionally skilled wizard , while not as knowledgeable as his other family members; which could be attributed to him being a Gryffindor and alienating himself from the family , but he was natural with a wand . And was perhaps one of the most powerful member of the order when it came to raw power.

Then came Cassiopeia Black, not much of a fighter, but regarded as one of the best researcher of the mysteries of magic, that even the department of mysteries had taken her help in the past. The girl had gotten her first mastery at the mere age of 19, considered as an ocean of knowledge in multiple fields of magic.

"She must have definitely tutored Perseus in runes and potions at least if Babbling's and Severus's claims are anything to go by. " Dumbledore thought and then he had reprimanded the potion master for asking a first year student such advance questions .

Then he thought of other Blacks who were exceptionally powerful, something very common in that family. for instance Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black; considered Voldermort's second in command and his most powerful follower. Her knowledge, power and skill only rivaled by her madness .

'Most people don't realize that she was a Black' Dumbledore thought as his mind drifted to the strongest Black member of this century.

Arcturus Black, the Third. And he knew if it weren't for some advantages he had over the Lord of Oceania, Arcturus Black could have been his equal . He had after all defeated the entire might of Oceania and conquered it . Regarded as one of the strongest wizards to come out of Europe and for good reason too, he was after all a direct descendant as well as an apprentice of Aristaeus the great, his own mentor .

Thinking of his mentor , he couldn't help but smile fondly . the ancient warrior had trained him and the training which in the end not only helped him in defeating Gellert but also to go toe to toe with Tom. He had turned his strength into his strongest weapon. He taught him how to incorporate his transfiguration skills into dueling in such a way that he could face anything and anyone .

Yet again he couldn't help but draw comparison between young Perseus and Tom, one that his mentor has proclaimed was his equal if not superior when it came to dueling.

But Perseus had an advantage over Tom. For Perseus belonged to an old , powerful, rich , pureblood house and the advantages that came with it, something that tom lacked. He knew that Arcturus had adopted the boy and has declared him the Black heir.

But for Perseus to be adopted into the Black family, he must have had some amount of 'BLACK' blood running through his veins.

'Maybe he is from a line of some distant squib' He thought . But since Arcturus himself had declared him the Black heir, Perseus's position and title cannot be challenged by anyone .he was the only hope the Black family had , and thus he wasn't surprised to realize that lord Arcturus Black and lady Cassiopeia must have trained him in the use of magic. He was broken out of his musings as the staff members started entering one after the other.

"Good Afternoon to you all, I hope you are all doing well", Albus started speaking but suddenly glared at Snape reprovingly who had snorted in amusement. Shaking his head he began again,

"Now that we are all gathered here, please hand in your reports on the students in your respective houses. We will look through them first and then discuss this year's batch of first years."

One by one each head of house gave the reports of the students. After spending an hour perusing them and suggesting several ideas for improving the recalcitrant students, he dismissed the reports and began, "Now about the first years, Minerva, would you like to begin?" Dumbledore inquired graciously.

Minerva nodded imperiously and began, "Thank you Albus. My first years have settled in quite well and they are all doing well in their studies though the Weasley twins have been a menace in and out of the house. They are rambunctious and don't have any interests besides pranking others in which they seem to excel at."

Albus nodded and chucked a bit at that. He then asked Filius about his charges who replied enthusiastically and with a bit of mischief , "All is well within my house as the students aren't typically the brawling type"

To which Minerva sent a playful glare towards the diminutive professor.

He then turned to Pomona and asked her, "And what about the Hufflepuffs, Pomona? I hope they are settling in well.

Sprout nodded and said, "On the first three nights, I had three homesick students. I took them to Poppy who gave them a calming drought and they have settled in quite well. I have also noticed Mr. Diggory of my house who had become close friends with Perseus Black and Nicklaus Mikaelson of Slytherin and Helena Angelis of Ravenclaw. I must say that I was very pleased with this display of inter- house cooperation.

'Aah yes, another prominent name, Angelis' Dumbeldore thought , He was of course surprised when Anabelle Angelis , had approached him regarding her daughters admission in Hogwarts.

Finally Albus turned to Severus inquiringly who began, "My first years have settled in .Though there are two students who are exceptional in that regard namely Mr. Black and Mr. Mikaelson. Mr. Black has been excelling in every subject and is quite a genius."

It was very faint but Albus noticed the strain his young professor was feeling while talking about the Black heir. Severus has been acting a bit off lately.

'I will enquire about it later' Albus thought.

"Mr. Mikaelsonis quite a prodigy in charms I have heard, even ahead of Mr. Black . A few days earlier when he thought that he was alone he started practicing Animation charms and he was successful at it too. ", Severus stopped at the exclamations of surprise from the other teachers.

"Yes that's quite true, young Nicklaus is a genius when it comes to charms," Filius confirmed , "And I am sure you all must have heard about Mr. Blacks skill from Minerva and Hagrid, and such Albus and I have decided that Mr. Black is fit to be the third member of the dueling team for the tournament next year.

"but Filius he is just a first year student" Pomona protested and she wasn't the only one to do so as Minerva too shared her sentiments.

"I know, I know, but I assure you he takes after Arcturus Black in regards to dueling" he said and then continued

"Anyway he entered the team after he had defeated both Mr Weasley and Ms tonks in not only a one on one duel but also a two on one duel, it was a marvelous fight, you should have seen it" he finished.

"Very well if that is all then I declare this meeting closed" the headmaster said," Severus if you could stay behind for a moment"

"Actually Albus , I am quite tired , can we please converse later" the potion master said.

This was enough to confirm Albus's suspicions that something was up with his potion professor and it had something to with Perseus Black.

He nodded to him and the meeting was dispersed .

* * *

Perseus sat in the great hall with Nicklaus to his right eating a sandwich for lunch when he heard the fluttering of wings from above. Pausing with his meal, he looked up to notice Bartholomew flying down with a letter attached to his leg. The powerful eagle owl landed on the table in front of him and stretched his leg out, so Perseus could take the letter, and waited for his next order.

Perseus tore open the envelope to notice a piece of parchment with his grandfather's handwriting on it:

 _Dear Perseus_

 _Congratulations on getting into Slytherin, though I expected you to go to Ravenclaw, but Slytherin is even better. I'm glad to hear you're making friends at school like I knew you would. That Mikaelson boy sounds like quite the character, It is said that the Mikaelson family had a mysterious past and origin. I hope I can meet him some day as well as any other of your friends._

 _And I hear congratulations are in order, I am very proud of you Perseus, for being selected to represent Hogwarts in the Tournament . I myself wanted to participate when I was in Hogwarts but I couldn't and I am happy to live that dream through you._

 _The sale of Black screen is coming Well , we have made a lot of gold by selling them, all in all it's a very profitable venture._

 _But there is one sad news Perseus, I won't be able to spend the Christmas with you as I have to attend some matters in Oceania, and I am really sorry for that child._

 _What do you think of your classes? I hope you haven't caused any trouble yet. Have you had your flying lessons yet? What did you think? Do you think you'll take up Quidditch next year?_

 _I miss you and look forward to your reply. Send it back with Bartholomew whenever you want._

 _Arcturus Black_

"Who's that from?"

Asked Nick after swallowing his food and taking a sip of Pumpkin juice.

"It's from my grandfather, Nicklaus" answered Perseus, raising an eyebrow when his friend winced slightly.

"Do you have to call me that?"

"Call you what?" Perseus asked back, feigning confusion.

"Nicklaus – it's such a crappy name!" he began, sounding annoyed

"All my friends call me Nick, so…you know, you should too!"

Perseus dismissed him with a wave, though, slightly pleased that Nicklaus thought of him as a friend.

"But what's wrong with your name," Perseus asked

"It sounds like the name of a grandfather, its weird"

"Well, so is mine then" Perseus said"

"No, well your name is 'Perseus', you are named after a bloody god , it's a fantastic name"

"Whatever you say Nicklaus " he answered with a smirk.

Seeing his smirk, Nicklaus smiled in response "You know, if you keep calling me that I may just have to hex you" he said, with a smug grin.

"Oh really" Perseus said with a raised eyebrow as he pulled out his wand in an instant and held loosely in his hand

"You know what" he gulped and said "as Gandhi said violence is never the answer"

"uhun"

"Bartholomew, go rest in the owlery, I'll have a reply for you to take back tomorrow, ok?" Perseus said to the large eagle owl. The bird's shockingly intelligent and piercing orange eyes seemed to bore into his own before it fly to his shoulder and nipped his eat slightly and flew off.

"I am off", said Perseus while getting up.

"Where?"

"Library"

"I will go find Helena and Cedric and ask if they want to explore the grounds today as we all have a free period", replied Nicklaus.

"Whatever, in fact I won't be attending Dinner tonight…." answered Perseus.

"But why don't you have dinner in the great hall", inquired an inquisitive Nicklaus.

Perseus sighed and answered," Too much noise makes it difficult for me to think. Normal people are so boring filling their minds with useless clutter half of which is of no use. So much chattering…."

Perseus simply smirked at him and started towards the library. As he entered the library, the library harpy, Madam Pince shot him a nasty glare and motioned to him to keep quiet. Resisting the urge to role his eyes, he simply handed her the pass he had acquired from professor fitflick and nodded at the woman and went straight to the restricted section and extracted a heavy book titled "elements of elemental magic ."

Taking it to the nearby desk he opened it started to read the book and simultaneously take notes. He has learned from Voldemort's knowledge that he was looking for a ritual that would allow the caster to do elemental spells very easily, just like any other spell.

he took notes of the runic scheme required for the ritual and necessary ingredients , he then put the book back and was about to leave when his sight fell on the ancient looking tome that was placed at the far end of the shelf.

He took out the book and read its title, which was in ancient greek.

'νεκρομαντείο αλήθεια'

'true art of necromancy' he thought , Hmm that sounded interesting he tried to open the book. The keyword being tried. But the cover won't bulge.

He then saw the back of the book where there were markings of a palm, following his instinct Perseus placed his palm on it.

Nothing happened but then he felt a small needle pierce his skin and draw blood, the tome

Glowed dark blue for a moment and then it opened with the sound of a click.

He quickly skimmed through the book and what he read shocked him. Apparently the book was a grimoire and belonged to one of his ancestors, Balthazar Black, a necromancer, and the only reason he was able to unlock it with his blood.

The concepts that were in this book , were simply mind boggling, and interesting. Concepts he'd never considered before. The way it described the spirit plane, and the course that soul take, and rebirth, it was just fascinating.

' _Necromancers are able to transport their consciousness to the spirit plane. They can commune with the dead, and_ _have_ _been speaking with them for thousands of years. There are volumes of documented studies conducted by Necromancers in their surveys of the spirit realm and the experiences of the souls that exist there._

 _"The truly powerful of them can actually call the soul of a dead person back into the physical plane and if they're powerful_ _enough_ _, they can even reattach that soul to a living body! Although it's rarely effective in the long term, and it's seen as a defiance against nature to attempt such an extreme act with the intention of maintaining it since it upsets the balance and goes against the natural flow of life, death, and rebirth; but for brief returns, it's possible. They've made a study of learning all the aspects of the spirit plane, the journey the soul takes upon death, and the process of being reborn; how long it usually takes before a soul is considered cleansed and allowed to return to the physical plane... It's a powerful art that's been in practice among Necromancers for thousands of years. The reason most people don't know about it is because they hold their secrets tight."_

'Only those studying the necromantic arts under a necromancer master are supposed to ever gain access to a grimoire like this. I wonder how this thing ended up here instead of the Black library...and why was I able to open it, am I a necromancer?" Perseus then thought

Perseus knew he had to take the book away with him, but he knew he can't just sneak it out of the library, and then suddenly he had an idea.

"Rokky" he called out.

Immediately there was a pop and the house elf appeared in front of him

"Master Perseus , how may Rokky be of service" he said

"Listen to me very carefully Rokky, take this book" he said as he handed him the grimoire

"And take it to my dorm, and stay there till I come and take it from you, under no condition you are to give it to anyone else other than me"

"Yes master Perseus" he said and took the grimoire and disappeared with a pop.

'That sounds interesting.' Perseus thought.

* * *

One morning found Perseus again in the same clearing in the forbidden forest, where hagrid had shot arrows at him. Today he was going to do archery practice on the stones he had prepared.

Perseus knelt down and touched the big rectangular case that he had put there earlier. He opened the lid of the case and in it lay his bow, a recurve bow to be exact. The bow a masterpiece. the riser of the bow was foot long and the limbs were in the shape of a twisted and slanted 'S'.

The Bow was a powerful weapon forged from wood of the magical Epirus' tree, he had gotten that bow as gift from Alistair as he had promised. The bow was definitely magical, he could feel the magic in it's wood and even in the bowstring. And the reason why he had no arrows with him was when the bowstring was pulled an arrow would materialize , Perseus also got to know that the arrows did not follow the law of gravity and were not affected by the wind. Perseus had studied the bow, and realized it was just a magical foci, using the magic of wielder to conjure arrows .

Perseus then pulled out a dozen stones from his pocket and in an instant they took flight, and moved in random patter.

Perseus notched an arrow and notched it and pulled back the bowstring, and he released the arrow.

Ten minutes and fifty one arrows latter, Perseus had hit all the fifteen stones. And was about to put back his bow when he heard footsteps from the edge of the clearing, and Perseus recognized the aura of the person without even seeing him.

It was Albus Dumbledore.

Perseus closed his eyes and again pulled back the bowstring and fired an arrow which hit the ground just in front of Dumbeldore's feet.

He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of clapping and saw, Albus Dumbeldore , standing in front of him, in most ridiculous purple robes , smiling kindly at him and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Hello Perseus"

"Good morning professor" he replied.

"Amazing , simply amazing Mr. Black., I have heard about your skills and how you have mastered the art of 'blind fighting' , but to see it with my own eyes , simply marvelous . " he said

"Thank you professor"

"But if I may ask, why did you shoot at the ground just ahead of my feat., was it some sort of warning?" He inquired

Perseus gave him a small smile and then said

"No no , not a warning professor, according to me , no matter what, a teacher must be respected and you might not have taught me, but you are the headmaster and it was my way of both acknowledging you as well as to show you respect that a teacher deserves."

"aah wise words , any teacher would be lucky to have you as a student Mr. Black, no wonder Silas took you as an apprentice" he replied

A brief look of surprise crossed Perseus's face but he masked it instantly. but it was enough for Dumbledore to detect.

"Don't be surprised Perseus, you may not want to publicize that fact but Silas on the other hand has been boasting about his young apprentice amongst the wandmaker guild for the last few months, he is quite proud of you too, and rightly so" he said

"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Helena told me she liked my new earmuffs." Perseus responded as they started moving towards the castle.

"What brought you here professor, that too at this time of the morning" he asked.

"There are few things that miss my eyes in Hogwarts, Perseus. I might even say that inside the castle as long as I am Headmaster I am almost invincible , and the wards have alerted me of someone leaving the castle grounds every morning for the last two months, I had first sent Hagrid to investigate it ,", dumbledore replied serenely.

"Aah yes I did encounter him" Perseus said in an impassive tone

"I apologize for Hagrid's brashness Perseus, please forgive him, but despite his faults, he has a very good heart" the aged wizard said.

"yes, I am sure he does". Perseus replied and Dumbledore said again

"also Perseus , I am sure you heard me during the welcome feast , the forbidden forest is just that; forbidden. It is a dangerous place"

"I had no intention to break any rule professor , I just wanted to practice in seclusion, and I assure you no harm will come to me, if you would permit , I will even cast some wards around this clearing" Perseus replied which caused Dumbledore to think for a moment after which he said

"Very well then , but only this clearing , no venturing into the forest "

"Yes sir" Perseus replied.

"Err... Professor, you said that you are almost invincible in the castle as long as you are headmaster, I wonder what do you mean by that?", Perseus asked after several moments.

Dumbledore looked at Perseus and then replied, "Since, I am the Headmaster Hogwarts answers to me. Many wizards think that Hogwarts is a simple castle. A castle of magic no doubt, but a simple dead castle. But it is not true. We can call Hogwarts a semi sentient castle which alerts me to threats around Hogwarts. As a result of all the magic that occurs on premises (both from learning students, magical artifacts therein and the enchantments cast over the building itself) a magical atmosphere pervades the entire structure, this leaves several wells of magic in Hogwarts which I can borrow at will from the castle in the situation that I am injured. The castle can fully heal me and any who I wish."

Perseus just nodded in understanding .

"Professor Can I ask you something" he said.

"You just did , my boy, but yes you might ask again" he said with a fond smile.

"What do you know about the art of archery, I mean the archery that was practiced by wizards?"

He didn't say anything for a moment but then said.

"aahh yes, you see Perseus, if legends are to be believed , before the invention of wands , the ancient wizards had used different magical foci, the wizards who were warriors , would craft weapons as a magical foci for themselves. Swords, spears and shields were the most common, then some warriors chose other weapons such as a bow."

Here he took a dramatic pause before he continued.

"those wizards were said to be very fierce warriors, Perseus, they could shoot hundreds of arrows at once, they even had the knowledge of the wepons of mass destruction , the wizarding world's answer to the muggle nuclear weapons and that to thousands of years ago."

"many wizards , including me, have searched for that knowledge in my youth, not because I was a good archer, mind you, no I just wanted to know about that ancient magic. But alas that kind of magic has been lost to time, it was forgotten even before the time of founders. The wonderful bow you hold is perhaps one of the very few bows left , the art to craft magical bows too was lost to time " he finished

"ohh that's too bad"

"Looks like our ways will part from here, Perseus", said the professor to which Perseus violently realized with a start that they now stood right outside the forbidden forest and Dumbledore seemed to make his way towards hogsmeade .

"Thank you Professor ", Perseus said with a grateful nod of his head to which Dumbledore simply inclined his head.

"Good bye, Perseus"

"Good bye professor"

"Oh and Perseus", the headmaster called after the first year "ten points to Slytherin for brilliant archery skills." Perseus snorted and nodded his thanks at the professor.

He was about to make his way towards the castle when he heard some loud shouts coming from the quiditch pitch. On closer inspection, he found that it was the Gryffindor team practicing for the upcoming game and the voice belonged to Charlie Weasley who stood on the ground and was screaming instruction to his teammates .

He made his way towards the pitch. Apparently the Gryffindor team was giving training to their new keeper, one Oliver Wood, a second year.

Perseus moved and stood beside Charlie so silently that Charlie didn't even notice him until Perseus said,

"Hello Charlie"

This startled Charlie for a moment as he jumped in surprise and put his hand over his chest and looked at Perseus in shock.

"Dude what are you , a ghost? , how did you do that?"

"Don't be so dramatic Charlie "Perseus replied , yes he had gotten to know the weasley well enough to get on first name basis with each other.

Charlie then looked at Perseus properly, dressed in all Black, a bow in hand, the bow in itself was quite magnificent . Charlie off course knew that Perseus was good with a bow but he has never witnessed him use it.

"Where are you going , to war?" he asked in a snarky tone

Perseus snorted and said

"No I was just practicing and working out , and I was on my way towards the castle when I heard your voice, so I came here"

"Hmm Fred and George told me that you yourself are quite good on a broom"

While they were talking they didn't notice the two grifindor beaters talking to each other mid-air.

"Hey Raymond, isn't that Black, the first year how kicked your ass"

"What the hell is he doing here "Raymond said.

"Doesn't matter, lets teach him a lesson shall we" he said as he swung his bat at the approaching bludger , and hit it straight towards Perseus.

Perseus and Charlie were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even see the bludger coming. But Perseus, he didn't have to see it, he felt something coming his way , that too extremely fast.

And without even looking towards it he just raised his hand just as the bludger reached them and it was then Charlie noticed the approaching bludger and was about to push Perseus out of its path when he noticed that the bludger was slowing down and the bludger did indeed came to a halt just as Perseus closed his hand in a fist.

Charlie got over his shock quickly and glared at his beaters angrily and was about to reprimand them when Perseus just opened his fist and the bludger flew at breathtaking speed towards the beater who barely avoided it.

"I am sorry about that Perseus , they might be thinking that you are here to spy on us, you know how the house rivalry works"

He said with an apologetic look on his face

"Ohh no need for that , I actually quite enjoy it" Perseus said just as rest of the team landed around them and gathered around .

"Why the hell did you do that Stuart" Charlie asked angrily as he leveled his beater with a glare

"What, He is a slytherin , he is probably here to spy on us"

Perseus just snorted at this

"I have better, productive things to do than spy on you"

"ohk enough , Stuart he was not spying on us, he was here to talk to me"

,"your keeper is quite good" Perseus said suddenly.

"That he is" Charlie replied and the said boy just blushed at the praise.

It was then that Perseus noticed that there were seven figures around him who have just landed, including Charlie that meant eight players, so he asked Charlie,

"Who is the extra player "

"Ohh that's Vincent , " Charlie said as he motioned towards a lanky boy with sandy grey hair .

"Our reserve seeker, I was thinking that he might take my place from next year, but unfortunately he has been unable to find the snitch and it has been over half an hour, hell even I haven't spotted the snitch yet"

Perseus didn't reply , he just looked around and suddenly notched an arrow on his bow and aimed it seemingly towards one of the hoop and fired just as a shocked Charlie said,

"Perseus what are you-"

Although he stopped mid sentence as Perseus motioned him to look at one of the goal post , at the top of the middle hoop.

What Charlie saw shocked him , the arrow Perseus had just fired was embedded in the hoop but what shocked him even more was when he noticed the fluttering of something golden around the arrowhead.

He mounted his broom and went to inspect it, and the rest of the team too accompanied him, and what they found shocked them. The arrow has pierced the snitch and had then embedded itself on the hoop and the golden wings were fluttering around the arrowhead.

He looked back at the spot where Perseus was standing and was again shocked when he saw that the pitch was now empty, and Perseus was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

It had been three months since the term had started, when he had met Perseus Black for the first time and had received the shock of his life.

One look at those eyes , and Severus knew that Perseus Black was Lily's son, but he wanted to be sure about it. And so he had gone through the records of both Perseus Black and Harry Potter.

And what he had found had shocked him, first of all, in the eyes of law, there was no such person as Harry Potter, there was no birth certificate at the St. Mungos, no record at the ministry and the name was even absent from the Hogwart's magical register.

Perseus Black on the other hand , well he had a perfect on-paper life. There was no birth certificate with the St. Mungos authority, but that was common in the case of rich families, who preferred the delivery to take place in their manors.

Perseus Black was declared as the heir to the most noble and ancient house of Black by lord Arcturus Black and as such no one dare even think that Perseus was not a Black by birth and his position was never challenged.

The lack of anything, any paper trail of Perseus Black before he turned 7, lead Severus to the conclusion that the Black heir was indeed adopted.

He had even tried to use legilimency on the boy, but he received another shock when it didn't work, his legilimency probe just vanished and the boy didn't even seem to notice it. But something told Severus that Perseus knew about it and he also knew about the potters.

There was just no evidence to connect Perseus Black to harry potter and as such Severus had kept it quiet for all this time.

But he couldn't any more. His first instinct was to take the matter to Albus but his sense of loyalty to his friend and the feeling of guilt of being partly responsible for this whole situation compelled Severus to come here.

'Should I tell her, but if I keep it from her and she discovers it later, no no. I can't betray her like that, but I don't want to bring more misery to her life, she deserves happiness. 'Severus thought as he walked down the long driveway upto the moderate sized manor that stood at the end.

' Minerva said that she had seen her smile for the first time in so long time when lily was with her daughter. Iris , yes that what they name her'

'How am I going to break this news to her, this might just be too much for her, and she would want to get him back, which won't be possible and that might just break her even further'

Severus was broken out of his musing when he realized that he had reached the front gate of the manor. He approached the doors and knocked on it loudly and waited. And after a moment a voice came from with, a voice he had not heard in 5 years

"Coming, wait a second'

He composed himself and used occulemncy to mask his emotions and nervousness just as the door flung opened inwards

There stood his first and only true friend; she wore a shocked expression for a moment which then changed to that of joy.

"hello Lily , long time hun" Severus said

"Severus, oh Merlin" she said and then engulfed him in a hug

"Come on in" she said after a moment and lead him to the kitchen.

"Tea? Sev?" she asked

"Yeah sure" he said

A minute later she handed him a cup of tea as she sat beside him in the kitchen .

"After all these years, I am glad you came " she said with unshed tears in her eyes.

"I had to" he said which confused lily but before she could inquire into it. He continued

"Where is Potter and everyone else"

"James and Charles have gone out , along with Minerva and Remus, Iris has just fallen asleep , I am glad you came to see her Sev, you would adore her" she said

"I am not here to meet you daughter , Lily" he said and she frowned

"Then?" she inquired a, a bit surprised.

"Do you remember , I made a vow to you the last time we met, "

Lily thought about it for a moment when her expression turned sad, her smile vanished, she the spoke.

"You vowed , that you won't meet me until you'd find my –" she stopped mid-sentence and her eyes went wide and she stammered while she spoke

"My – my son, my-my Harry" she finished

"Yes lily" he confirmed and there was a long pause during which lily potter just stared at her best friend and then mustered up the courage and asked

"Have – have you"

By now here breathing had become loud and hard as she looked at him with hope and unshed tears in her eyes

Severus looked at her and thought 'should I tell her, it will cause a lot of trouble'

But finally he decided and said

"Yes Lily, I found him, I found your eldest son"

* * *

 **So how was it , i know some of you might feel that it is just a filler but next one will be lengthy .**

 **So you guys know the drill.**

 **Please review it , it means a lot to me.**

 **Thanks**

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	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 8- REUNION.**

 **so here is the next chapter guys , i hope you enjoy it .**

* * *

"Yes Lilly, I found him, I found your eldest son" Severus's words echoed in her mind.

She was shaking and having trouble concentrating on what he was telling her, she knew she was in total shock.

She couldn't begin to explain her emotions and feeling at that exact time – a miracle had just happened in her life and she didn't know quite well how to handle it- it was total excitement mixed with a gringrots cart ride where your insides are all churning and your heart is pounding.

When James had relinquished her much loved baby boy, she was furious, and no matter what reason James gave her, she could never forgive him.

Every member of the order had searched for her baby boy, but to no end. Although she never left hope, she still went on with her life but she never felt complete. There was always a very empty feeling in her heart. She loved Charles and for his sake they'd decided to not tell him about Harry. And then she had Iris, although she loved both her children very much, but no child could ever replace the one who was lost.

"Lilly," Severus called and that brought her out of her daze and she noticed he was offering her a handkerchief, and it was then that she realized that she had been crying.

"Thank you," she said as she took the piece of cloth and wiped her tears away and then looked at her friend asked in a broken and pleading voice.

"Where is he Severus, take me to him, I want to meet him, please Severus please" she begged him but before Snape could respond , the flames in the fireplace turned green and two figures stepped out of it.

James potter and Minerva McGonagall

Both of them looked at the scene in front of them with ever the grifindor – James acted before thinking and shouted at Snapeas he moved towards Lilly .

"What have you done now, Snape?"

But before Snape could counter him with snarky reply, which Lily knew he was very good at, she spoke up.

"He has fulfilled the promise he made , unlike you James."

Now this confused James and Minerva who were still trying to process the whole situation.

"What are you talking about Lilly, and why are you crying? I know Snape is somehow the reason behind it, and what promise?" asked a now very confused James Potter.

Lilly Potter stood up from her seat shakily and held her husband close and said

"These are the tears of joy James, I have not been this happy in years" she said and then looked over to where Snape stood and said fondly

"Severus found him," and then looked at James again and said

" He found our Harry."

Whatever James was expecting to hear, this was not even close to it...Snape had found his eldest son, but Harry was dead, every evidence pointed to that sad and unfortunate but true fact.

"But- but that's, - that's not possible " james stammered , "how can he find Harry, Lilly ?" he asked his wife and then stated

"Our Harry is gone Lilly , he is dead, " and then turned towards Snape and yelled at him

"You are lying! Why are you lying?" and then he too succumbed to tears and would have stumbled and fallen had minerva not caught him and helped him to a chair ,and Snape said in a cold voice.

"Do not accuse me of lying,Potter."

"Then prove it, take me to him" James replied.

"No," Lilly said, whichshocked everyone.

"You will not go anywhere near him, I forbid you to do so," she told James.

"ButLilly, he is my son, and- and if he is alive I have to see him, I have to make sure he is all right," James supplied.

"Like you did when you left him at petunia's doorstep!" Lilly said angrily,"You abandoned him, and you will not go anywhere near him now."

"He was a squib Lilly."

""No James no, Harry was not a squib , I had seen him do magic and -"

"I know Lilly, that's what poppy said that Harry was not born a squib but the attack by Voldemorthad somehow rendered him a squib" James rebutted.

"Even if that were true James, a child needs love, unconditional love, and only a parent can provide that, and there is no excuse to shrink away from that duty,"replied Lilly Potter.

"Lilly, I had a reason for what I did. In the wizrding world squibs are looked down upon, they are treated like vermin, even worse than muggleborns, and I have seen how badly that ends. I didn't want that life for Harry, " he explained and Lilly was about to retort when Snape suddenly started laughing.

It was not the cruel laugh that Snape was linked with, it was uncontrolled laughter as if he had heard something extremely funny.

"Have you finally lost it,Snape, do you think this is funny?"James yelled at him.

Snape composed himself and then sneered at James and said

"Yes to say that your son is a squib, that could be the joke of the century" Snape said, and then donned on his usual gloomy and serious look.

"What do you mean by that?" James demanded in frustration.

"What I mean Potter is that he is far from a squib, he is probably the strongest and smartest wizard Hogwarts has seen since Dumbledore," he said and was about to continue when Lilly interrupted him.

"Hogwarts, he is at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Where else do you think I found him?" he said.

"If he is attending Hogwarts then,Albus would have known about him," she said and then looked at Minerva and asked her,

"Then you must have met him too, why didn't you tell us?"but then understanding dawned upon her as she said

"Unless he has changed his name."

"Correct Mrs. Potter," Snape said and looked over at James and smirked at him.

"You have met him? What is he like Severus?"Lilly asked.

"He is a genius Lilly, not just in one or two branches of magic, and as much as I loathe to admit it,he is a prodigy in every field, and he has already started breaking records."

At this Lilly potter smiled with pride but then frowned at what Snape had said and asked him

"But why would you loathe to admit that Severus?"

Snape paused for a moment to think over his reply but then decided to come clean with it and replied

"Because he now bears the name of the family that I hate as much as I hate the name Potter."

While this confused James and Lilly for a moment, it was enough for Minerva to put all the pieces together and figure out the identity of the missing potter, she was so shocked that without even realizing it she blurted out the name

"Perseus"

At which James,Lilly and Severus turned towards her as this was the first time she has spoken since arriving

"Perseus _Aeries Black, heir to the most noble and ancient house of Black"_ Minerva _said._

 _"Have you met him?And for Merlin's sake tell me what is he like?" Lilly asked_ Minerva, her arms flaying.

 _"Yes Lilly I have met him, I have taught him and Severus is right, he is quite a genius, and he is even better than James was at transfrugation and he has quite a powerful personality, he became the only first year student ever, to become a member of the dueling club and not only that, he is also a member of the team that will represent Hogwarts in the dueling tournament next year in Japan."_

 _Hearing about her son and his achievements made Lilly beam in pride but also saddened her at the same time that she was not able to guide him and support him. She then asked_ Minerva _the question that has been on her mind for a long time_

 _"Is he well? Is he happy?"_

 _"He seemed well enough to me," she said with a smile her mind going back to the day when she had asked Perseus from whom he had learned and when he had replied by saying 'life'._

 _"Perseus,"Lilly repeated the name with a fond smile on her face as if checking how the name sounded and then she looked at James and said_

 _"Perseus, it sounds beautiful, doesn't it James?"_

 _But looking at james's expression turned her smile to look of worry. James was now staring at the fire crackling in the fireplace , he looked furious and then he said in a barely audible whisper_

 _"Black"_

 _"My son is a Black" he said angrily , for if there was one thing that James and Snape had in common, it was that they both hated the Black family, though for different reasons._

 _"Arcturus had in a way kidnapped my heir, I will not forgive him, I will drag him in front of the wizengamot and—"_

 _"And you would do no such thing" Lilly potter said furiously. If anyone thought that James was angry, then Lilly 's rage put James temper to shame but before she could say anything else Snape interrupted them._

 _"And even if you were to do so, potter, do tell me on what grounds will you challenge Arcturus black?"_

 _This confused Lilly and_ Minerva _slightly, but James seemed to have understood what Snape was referring to as he sighed and sat back in his chair in defeat._

 _"What do you mean by that Severus?"Lilly asked to which Snape said giving James a twisted smile._

 _"Well your dear husband utilized every means he had at his disposal to make sure that no one would be able to find your son, he used his contacts at the ministry, a memory spell here and there and a bit of gold to erase every record of Harry James Potter, from the ministry , from St. Mungos, from everywhere, so as far as the ministry and the world is concerned, you only have two children. Harry James Potter does not exist, he never existed."_

 _This shocked Lilly to the core, she couldn't believe it but as she looked at the broken form of her husband she knew Severus has spoken the truth._

 _"And if you were to contest for his guardianship, just think what would the world say, 'that you abandoned your eldest son in favor of the boy-who-lived,'here he gave a cruel smirk and continued_

 _"you and your family will be ridiculed, despite the fact that your daughter, son and wife had no hand in it even then they will suffer the consequences of your actions, then you will be charged for the crime of tempering with official records, and as a auror you must know it's quite a serious crime."_

 _Everyone thought over it for a minute but Snape again spoke_

 _"And even if you were to find some sort of proof or evidence for your claim, do you really think you stand a chance against Arcturus Black?"_

 _Now this gave everyone,specially James something to think over._

 _James knew he would never be able to win against Arcturus Black. The Black Lord carried a lot of influence in not only the British ministry of magic but also in ICW._

 _'The man who had once conquered an entire nation alone?No,going against someone like that would be suicide.'_

 _"What do you mean by that Severus, I know the Black family is rich, but why is Arcturus Black so feared?" Lilly potter asked but it was James who answered her._

 _"Lord Black is a very powerful wizard Lilly; a direct descendant and also an apprentice of Aristaeus the is the ruler of Oceania, a genius when it comes to battle tactics. Oceania was the only country other than Velos that even Grindelwald dare not attack. And while it was Dumbledore who faught Grindelwald, it was Arcturus Black along with a handful of his men kept the entire army of Grindelwald at bay."_

 _There was a long silence in the room as Lilly processed this news and then she spoke,_

 _"I want to talk to Arcturus Black then."_

 _"You will have to wait for at least a month, Lord Blackis in Oceania right now," Snape replied._

 _"So what? I will just go to Oceania," she replied._

 _"No," James said suddenly. "Lilly, no. It's a very dangerous place, and despite it being under the control of the ministry, no one, not even the aurors dare venture to Oceania."_

 _"oh,"she said and then after a while said,"very well then, I am going to meet harr- "_

 _"Persues," she corrected herself._

 _"Are you sure you want to do that Lilly?"Snape asked her._

 _She did_ admit that she had a fear that her son might hold animosity towards her and would reject her if they did ever meet again.

'Even if that were to happen, I would feel better knowing that he was doing alright. That would bring some peace to me' she thought and then looked at Snape and McGonagall and said

"Yes, I want to see him, and then I will decide if meeting him would be a wise choice or not."

"You want to,in a way, spy on him,"Snape asked her and on her nod continued

"And how would you do that?"

"I will use a Dillusenment charm, he won't be able to see me," she said as if that was the most reasonable answer.

"Somehow I doubt that would work?" Snape said.

"I am a charms mistress Severus, trust me I can do a dillusenment charm easily."

"I am well aware about your abilities Lilly, but I have also seen in action, the boy can shoot and hit the target with his eyes closed, and I think he will be able to detect you regardless of the dillusenment charm," Severus said and this shocked James and Lilly.

"Severus is right Lily, Albus himself witnessed Mr. Black's ability to fight with his eyes closed, and I agree with Severus, the chances of him detecting you are pretty high" McGonagall added.

"While you all come with some way to do that, I will inform Albus about everything." Snape said.

"You haven't told him yet?" Lilly asked him.

"No, I thought it was right to inform you first, Lilly, after all he is your son," he said and moved towards the fireplace and left for Hogwarts.

Lilly's mind was travelling faster than a snitch, she was thinking of all the ways to see her son without him being able to notice her. And then something struck her.

'James's cloak ' she thought to herself and then said out loud,

"James, your invisibility cloak, it is a very powerful magical object and no one can see through that cloak, well other that moody , but I somehow doubt har- ,"she gave a pause and then said

"Perseus, I mean what are the odds that Perseus would possess a similar ability?"

"I have got to tell you Lily, that when it comes to Perseus black, one can never be certain,"Minerva said.

But they were all in for a surprise because Unknown to them all Perseus was actually in process of obtaining such ability.

* * *

Perseus was on the seventh floor corridor, yesterday he had visited the room where voldemort had hidden one of his soul containers. And Perseus was rummaging through all the stuff that was in that room. He thought about his first visit to that room.

 **Flashback**

He had come to the conclusion that it was an utter treasure trove for him. People had lost, or hidden a great many things in the school, and a fair amount of those things were _valuable._

Of course, the illicit books were a severe boon to him. There were so many books on every imagining dark subject, hidden away in there – no doubt from students who didn't want to get caught with them, much like voldemort's own reason for having discovered the room. The difference was that the owners of those books had apparently never figured out how to get back into the room to retrieve their things later.

Looking over the many shelves he realized just how much stuff had been lost over the years. He could see everything from simple stink bombs, joke sweets, and other harmless pranks, some 'randy' books and mundane magazines, such as Witch Weekly and Play wizard, lots of fire whiskey, some muggle footballs, pretty much everything you can imagine the students of a magical boarding school to have was here.

He had already found several things that had taken his fancy, one of which was the simply massive pile of chocolate frog cards, including some he'd seen, from a brief scan, which hadn't been produced in centuries. He hadn't looked through them all yet, but hopefully the collection would contain even more of the rarer ones he needed to complete his own collection. A complete collection was a rare thing and highly valuable in the wizarding world. In the future they might even serve as much loved gifts given to prospective business partners who were fans of the cards. Little gestures like that went a long way to secure and keep a business relationship on good footing.

Before putting the cards into the sack, he had the sudden thought that he was becoming a kind of a collector of things, considering the type of things he had taken so far. After all, why take a chess set when he already had a very good one? Sure he liked chess, but he had no use for another set and it would just take up space. The chocolate frog cards, however, were actually monetarily valuable to collectors and useful for information purposes, as they contained short summaries of all major wizards and witches who had been deemed influential enough in European magical history to be added to the famous card collection.

A business idea came to him at that thought. Why limit the cards to Europe alone and limit the market of customers? Perhaps the cards could be sold in other parts of the world with a more targeted collection of figures. North America, for instance, would have a collection of cards featuring prominent American, Canadian, and Mexican wizards and witches throughout history, including the Native American shamans and sorcerers of legend. South America, Australia and Asia could be done the same way, with perhaps something other than chocolate if their cultural tastes didn't enjoy that particular treat. He'd have to have the goblins look into who owned the company which produced the cards and see if they might be willing to sell.

Back to the matter at hand, unless you had a good size collection of cards, including the rarer ones, most cards weren't individually all that valuable. The ones he had found, though, were some of the rarest cards ever produced, still in mint condition. He was still surprised that voldermort had never explored this room as he thought that other students wouldn't have anything importand to begin with unlike him, as he held himself in high regard.

What he found next surprised him, a crates of bottles of wine. He thougt that they were useless but a closer look and he found that they were no ordinary wine.

"blood wine" Perseusthought in amazement and he was even more surprised to find that they were four centuries old, the wine produced by vampires, the recipie to make them is a very close guarded secret amongst the vampire decided to take it with him on the way back.

Leaving the crates behind, he turned his attention back to scanning the shelves for anything of interest, or use. A couple more minutes passed before he saw anything else that took his fancy. He saw a shelf with what appeared to be something similar to a strong box on them, which probably meant that there was probably something valuable inside. Quickly examining the ornate wooden box, the box was quite similar in design to the viewing boxes found in the jewelry stores, with the glass serving as a viewing window for the contents inside. He silently vanished away all the dust on the box.

What he saw inside the glass surprised him, inside the box was a silver bracelet and an axe. And Perseuscould tell just by looking at them that it was goblin made.

Looking over the strong boxes, he found that they each had faint rune engravings on them which had worn down over time, mostly, it seemed, because they hadn't been properly maintained. He couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment at how lazy wizards were, how often they used magic that they barely understood, and overall at the lack of effort that was made to protect their so-called valuables. It seemed that having the Goblins and their Curse breakers protecting their wealth and exclusively fulfilling all their warding requirements had made them lazy and forgetful about the need to maintain runes to keep them functioning as intended.

He recognized that the runes were clearly Latin in origin, which was to be expected since Latin and Celtic runes were the two main rune scripts used primarily in Europe these days. This made his task considerably easier. He quickly decided that the best thing he could do was to remove the individual runes, hopefully that, coupled with its poor maintenance, and would disrupt the strong box's wards and magical protections.

He took out his own rune crafting knife quickly and begin chipping away at the faded runes. He knew it would be slow, tedious work to chip away at the runes, but it was the safest way to gain access to the valuables contained within.

He could have just banished the runes or even countered them or even overpower them, but since the runes were very old he didn't wish to take any chance as the runic array could be incomplete and could lead to a lot of trouble.

After chipping away at the runes for a good while, it was simplicity itself to open the strong boxes. In fact, all it took was a moderately powerful finite which cancelled out the most basic spells aimed at locking the box's lid, to remove most of the protective security magic. This was followed by the standard unlocking charm to shift the internal locking mechanism to 'open'.

He cautiously opened the strong box with another flick of his wand, before looking inside for any additional runes that may have been hidden and missed earlier. Part of him was disappointed that he found none. Not yet wanting to put his hand inside the open box, in case of some still undetected security spell, he cast the summoning spell inside the strongbox hoping to get access to the jewelry.

"Accio Silver Bracelet," he said aloud. Now if it ware some other wizard the charm would have failed for sure as silver was magically resistant plus it was goblin made and as such had anti-summoning enchantments on it, but it was Perseus, and he was using a very powerful wand and as such, the silver bracelet leaped into his open arm.

It was a simple silver bracelet, with a beautiful sapphire and some fine rune engravings on it. If Perseus didn't know better he would have thought that it had probably belonged to some spoiled pureblood princess. But he knew better, he knew it was made by goblins for a particular purpose, he inspected the runes that were engraved upon it .

"Aha!" Perseus said loudly as he realized what he was holding and then a small sapphire on it and instantly he felt a improved variant of dilluseunment charm take effect.

'This is even better than an invisibility cloak' he thought as he put the bracelet on his left wrist and again pressed the sapphire and he became visible again.

He then levitated the axe out of the box too and checked it for any dark magic, finding none he held the goblin made axe and read the tag attached to it

'the axe of the goblin king, grimlock the third, '

He remembered the name of that goblin, who had faught against the dwarfs in the 16th century .Someone must have stolen it from him and must have hidden it here.

"This could be very beneficial, as well as a bargaining chip with the goblins," Perseus thought as he put the bracelet and the axe in his bag which had an extension charm on it and left for his dorm.

He moved further in the room and came face to face with a skeleton with glowing purple eyes. Inside the ribcage of the skeleton was an old book , black leather cover and the oddly a design of what appeared to be human with the face of a wolf. He knew the skeleton was not just a show peace. He tried to get a read on the magic around it , but there was none but something told him that was not the case.

Although one thing he was sure of , it was a result of a sacrificial magic. And he had started dabbling a bit with his nullifier power when an idea had struck him that he might be able to expand his nullifying has only been able to do it in a very small scale; just his hand. Lack of any guidance and information on that power was the reason for his lack in progress.

He extended his right hand , his hand covered by an invisible glow , the similar glow he had gotten when the protection of those shamans had wrapped around him all those years ago. He put his hand from below the ribcage and grabbed the tome. And slowly he took it out and just as he was sure his hand was far away from the skeleton he ended the magic .and suddenly he was very tired , the last piece of magic had nearly exhausted him. But he got up and opened the tome and cursed loudly, as the book was blank.

Flashback ends

He had kept the book none the less and was glad as he had later discovered that it was just a cloaking spell and all he had to do was bypass it. Something he has been trying to do for a while now, but was unsuccessful. Other than that he'd yet to find anything else of importance in that room, but he was shocked beyond measure when Rokky informed him about the true potential of the room; the room can be anything one wants it to be, the room of requirement and Perseus was glad that Voldemort had not found that particular information.

Perseus entered the room and found the room to his satisfaction, the floor was made of stone, and torches provided sufficient light in the room.

He had been reading the grimoire of Balthazar black thoroughly; he had found several rituals that would be extremely beneficial.

Perseus had been researching on enhancing rituals for several weeks. He had seen in Voldemort's memories that he had used several rituals to boost his body's output in battle. That had been the reason why he had been so feared in battle. The man could literally appear anywhere at any time with inhuman speed.

There were many rituals in the grimoire, there was one to boost one's reflexes and strength , but Perseushas already done that. Then there was an animagus ritual, something that Perseus has never heard of before. But what baffled Perseus was that Balthazar was seeking the work of a witch named Diana and Perseus couldn't help but think that maybe it was the same witch that had created the vampires as Alistair had informed him . Balthazard believed that Diana knew of a way to combine all these rituals in one by doing a very complex sacrificial ritual.

The ritual Perseus was going to perform today was the 'ritual of sight'. It was one part of a ritual that was designed by Emora, the Vengeful, which created the first vampires. Advantages of that ritual included, the ability to see through invisibility charms and objects with similar enchantments. The ability to see past solid objects.

Perseus of course knew about Alastor Moody, and also that with his magical eye he had similar abilities. But the ritual had even more to offer, like being able to see perfectly in dark, ability to see miles away, like an eagle.

According to Balthazar, this ritual won't alter the appearance of his eyes in any way but his eyes would glow quite unnaturally whenever he would utilize the said power.

And as such Perseus proceeded to start the ritual. He took out a vial that contained the potion that he had prepared earlier and poured it in a bowl,he then took out his ritual dagger and made a large cut on his palm and let his blood fall into the bowl. The effect was immediate. The green colour potion turned bright orange.

He then took out his brush made up of unicorn feathers and dipped it into the bowl and started drawing a complex pattern of runes on the stone floor. The overall shape of the runes was that of a triangle.

Perseus then took out a case from his bag which had three objects in it. One was the skull of a dementor, the other were eyes of a blood hound; only animal that can see through any form of invisibility anddementor being the only being that could see through illusions and other concealing or cloaking magic.

The reason he was performing this ritual was that he believed it would give the ability to read the book he'd found in the room of requirement.

Perseus knew these ingridients were extremely hard to procure. No matter how much money one had or even in the depths of the black market , these ingredients couldn't be found. But fortunately for him Voldemort had been a paranoid bastard, and all the rare ingredients he had collected or stolen, all the money he had and the rare tomes he had acquired, were all stored in one place. A small island not far from Wales.

The island itself was under a fediliuscharm, but Perseus was able to go through it as he had gotten that knowledge from Voldemort's soul itself and as such the magic couldn't distinguish between him and Voldemort. Perseus has then sent Rokky to acquire these items.

He put the eyes on two corners of the triangle and the skull of the dementor at the third corner and himself sat in the centre of the runic array.

"This kind of ritual is different than the blood magic I have done before,let's hope this works," he thought and started chanting.

"Improvidus Vision, claritas, Eyesight

Oculi diemet oculos nox

redde mihi

verum conspectu meo"

He paused for a moment just as he felt the runes getting charged, he could feel the magic swirling around him and then he continued chanting.

"ut videam

magia lucem

redde oculis unius

vident in claritate refulgens

Hoc volo, sic erit"

As he finished his chanting, a soft silver glow came out of the runes and slowly enveloped his body. Perseus watched as the magic literally transferred the magical properties of the two objects he had place at the corners of the triangle to him. Which was slowly absorbed into his body. The light around him turned golden and Perseus started to feel a stinging sensation in his eyes .

As they glow of the magic vanished after a few minutes Perseus again felt normal though the stinging sensation was still there in his eyes. But then suddenly his eyes started to burn as if someone had put lava on them and his head stated to ache as if someone was ripping it open from inside.

Perseus didn't know what to do he couldn't see anything and the headache was killing him and in desperation he called out for his loyal house elf.

"Rokky"

And in an instant rokky appeared in front of him and he was too shocked to see his master in such pain.

"Master Perseus, whats happening to yous?"

"Rokky, take me to my dorm and make sure no one sees me in this condition" Perseus said in a shaky voice and the last thing Perseussaw was large eyes of rokky looking at him in worry before he lost consciousness.

* * *

He woke up and felt the soft silk sheet and without even opening his eyes he knew that he was in his bed.

And acting like a stupid grifindor he opened his eyes in an instant .His eyes felt normal, there was no burning sensation in his eyes and his headache was gone too. Though he was relieved of the pain itself, the feeling and sensation of the pain still lingered and was fresh in his mind.

'That bloddy Balthazar didn't mention that the ritual would be painful as hell,' he thought just as he started recollecting the memories of last night and in an instant he called out for Rokky who appeared before him.

"Master Perseusis awake, is Master feeling well now?" he asked and going by the tone of the house elf Perseusknew that he was still worried about him.

"I am alright now Rokky, thank you for your help yesterday," Perseus said but Perseus was surprised to see that the elf was not even meeting his eyes and Perseus was about to ask him about it when the door to his dorm open and Nicklaus marched in.

"Aah finally you are awake,"he said in his usual cheerful manner.

Now if Rooky'sbehavior surprised Perseusthen Nicklaus's presence bewildered him even more because Nicklaus should have boarded the Hogwarts express and should have left for his home by now but before he could ask him anything Nicklaus spoke up.

"I must say even for the pampered and rich Black heir, two o'clock in the afternoon is pushing it way to far" he said sarcastically as he pulled the blind on the window, which allowed the searing sunlight to enter the room.

"What are you doing here?" Perseus asked but before Nicklaus could give another sarcastic reply he rephrased his question.

"I mean shouldn't you have left for Christmas holidays by now?"

"Aah yes, I would have, but you were in such a critical condition, how could I leave you like that?" he said.

"Ah yes" Perseussaid and then continued.

"Listen. About that, you didn't have to stay, I would have been fine. I am sorry you had to miss your train due to me."

Perseus said this even though he was really glad that Nick had helped him and it also explained why Rokky was so sad, he had in a way went against Perseus's order when Perseus had instructed him to make sure that no one sees him in that condition.

"Ah,it'salright, you have a very loyal but also an intelligent elf,"Nick replied as both of them looked over to Rokky who was now shedding tears as he came near Perseus and said in a broken voice,

"I am sorry Master, I disobeyed you orders, but you were in a lot of pain and Rokky didn't know what to do and so Rokky called for master's friend and he gave master a potion and master went to sleep although master's friend also slapped master once." Here Perseus looked sharply at Nicklaus who just gave an amused smile.

"Oh Rokky is so sorry master, this is the first time Rokky had disobeyed you, Rokky is ready for any punishment."

Perseus knew the elf felt extremely sad, and he knew what Rokky did was right so as to put his worries away, Perseus knelt down so that he was on the eye level of Rokky and put one hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to apologize Rokky, I am not at all upset with you. And I know what you did was right even if it was against my order. And you don't have to worry about any sort of punishment, not now, not ever," he said as he stood up again.

The elf looked up at him in surprise and then gave a wild smile and wrapped his tiny hands around Perseus's leg and said,

"Master Perseus is a great Master, Rokky is so happy to serve master."

"Thank you Rokky,"Perseus said and then after a moment again asked rokky,

"I'm kind of famished; you think you can get me something to eat?"

"Yes master Perseus, would Master's friend like something?" he asked as he looked over to Nick.

"A glass of juice and a sandwich will do, thank you,"Nick said and with a snap Rokky disappeared.

Nick looked at the spot where Rokky had vanished from for a moment then looked back at Perseus who was now again sitting on his bed and said,

"You treat your elf well, if only every wizarding family was like that,"he said.

"I treat him well because he is a living being he serves me well,"Perseus said as Nicklaus dragged a chair and sat on it.

"He was quite worried last night, and rightly so, you appeared to be in a lot of pain,"Nick said.

"I –I umh,"Perseus didn't know what to say.

"I was preparing for the tournament and I got hurt,"Perseus said and then Nicklaus gave Perseus an amused look.

"Don't take me for a fool, I know the aftermath of a ritual when I see one,"Nicklaus said and this surprised Perseus a bit and he was about to say something when Nicklaus spoke.

"You don't have to explain it to me Perseus, I understand. But don't lie to me at least."

Perseus had the decency to look a bit ashamed but then he decided to justify his actions and told Nicklaus,

"It's just that I don't trust easily and the only person I trust other that my grandfather is well, no one. I mean I have never had a friend before and it's difficult for me to trust anyone."

"And why do you think that is?"Nicklaus asked as this was the first time Perseus has opened up a bit.

"Let's just say that once you are betrayed by someone who was supposed to take care of you, you are bound to have trust issues," Perseus said trying to make Nicklaus understand.

Nicklaus nodded in understanding but did not ask pried any further. Just then a plate of sandwiches and two glasses and jug of juice appeared on the table beside the bed.

"Well, lets have lunch then we will head for the library, Helena is waiting and will meet us there"

Perseus was again surprised and he stopped eating and asked Nicklaus why was Helena still here.

"Well believe it or not she too was worried about you mate," he said.

They ate and made senseless chatter,well Nicklaus did mostly and then they made their way towards the library where they found a bored looking Helena reading a book and was furiously taking notes.

"Hey Helena,"Nicklaus shouted which earned them a glare from Madame Pince but they ignored her since they were the only one in the library.

Helena looked up from her book and smiled widely and asked Perseus,

"How are you feeling now?What had happened to you?Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"I am sorry, I didn't think anyone would be that worried about me,"Perseus said teasingly.

"How you hate to be wrong?" Helena asked with a smirk.

"I wouldn't know, I am not familiar with the sensation," Perseus replied teasingly but surprisingly it didn't annoy her at just stood there, awaiting an answer to her previous questions.

"I am fine, just a little accident during dueling practice, I am perfectly fine now,"Perseus replied.

"Okay good," she said. And then she spoke up again,

"And yes, before I forget, some senior student with weird purple hair was looking for you, she asked me to remind you that the dueling club's meeting is tonight."

"Oh yes, I had forgotten about it," Perseus said as Helena packed her things and the moved out of the library.

"Wait, what meeting? But the students must have left by now." Nick asked.

"The dueling club's meeting, apparently some auror from the DMLEis coming for an interactive session, and no the members of the club didn't board the express, they will leave via floo tonight,"Perseus informed them just as they reached Professor Fitwlick's office and Perseus was about to knock when the said professor came out himself.

"AhMr. Black, I didn't see you at breakfast, and Ms Angelis, what are you doing here?Shouldn't you be on the Hogwarts express?" he asked.

"Actually that's why we are here see, I wasn't feeling well and Nick and Helena were worried about being good friends that they are, they decided to not board the express,"Perseus said.

"Ah! 10 points to each of you Ms Angelis and Mr. Mikaelson for such display of loyalty and friendship," Fitwlick said.

"Professor I was wondering if you would please allow them to use your floo to go home?"Perseus asked which surprised both Nicklaus and Helena as they looked shocked.

"Very well, Mr. request is a genuine one. Please follow me," he said as he motioned for them to follow him inside his office.

"But we have to get our luggage," Nicklaus said.

"Ah, do not worry,"Fitwlick said.

"Dipsy," he called out.

And in an instant a house elf appeared before them and he said,

"Yes Professor sir?"

"Can you please fetch Mr. Mikaelson's and Ms Angelis's luggage from their dorms?"

"Yes sir," he said and vanished and reappeared again with two trunks and wishing each other a merry Christmas, within moments they both flooed for nicklaus's house leaving only Perseus and Fitwlick in the room.

"Thank you Professor."

"Oh, not a problem Mr. Black. I will see you in the evening during the meeting then," he said.

"Yes Professor,goodbye,"Perseus replied and left his office and made his way towards his dorm. He still felt a bit tired and wanted to rest but his path was blocked by the evil Mrs Norris. Perseus didn't pay her any heed and just stunned her and moved towards his dorm and slept in till the evening, he was still so tired from the ritual that he completely forgot to check if the ritual actually worked or not.

* * *

Lilly potter moved quietly through the corridor of the seventh floor of Hogwarts. She had not been to the castle in 5 years and she would have been elated if she were not feeling nervous for what was to come.

Finally she reached her destination, as she spotted McGonagall standing outside the door who was looking just as nervous as her. She took the invisibility cloak off her which caused McGonagall to jump in surprise as she put her one hand over her chest.

"Dear Merlin,Lilly, don't scare me like that again. I am not as young as I once was," she said.

"I am sorry Minerva," Lilly Potter replied and then again asked her,

"Is this the room?"

"Yes, the members of the dueling club will assemble in this room in about fifteen minutes, along with professor Fitwlick and professor Castle, although Filius said that they would be joined by two aurors from the ministry," McGonagall replied.

"Okay, thank you very much Minerva. I will get going now," Lilly said as McGonagall gave her a nod and said,

"Best of luck Lilly, you will need it." And then walked away just as Lilly Potter entered the room.

The room was larger than any other classroom at Hogwarts, probably three fourth the size of the great the middle of the room was a large, slightly raised, round dueling platform. There were runes etched all around the platform so that no astray spell would hit the audience.

Lilly Potter went and stood at the far corner of the room and donned on the invisibility cloak and cast a silencing charm around her.

She didn't had to wait long as after a few minutes students started to enter the room. She recognized one of them, Nymphadora Tonks, Andromeda's daughter. The students were then accompanied by her favorite Professor,Fitwlick and another who she assumed was Professor Castle.

She searched amongst the students present for any sign of a first year student but couldn't find him. There were in total fifteen students and all of them were fifth year or above. Just then two more people entered the room and she recognized them at once for she knew them both very well.

Auror Kingsley Shakelbolt and Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones.

'What are they doing here?' she thought,but then remembered that Minerva had mentioned that someone from the auror department would be visiting today.

Amelia then gave a short informal speech to the students about the career in law and asked them who was interested to become an auror and instantly all of them raised their hands, except one red head boy who she got to know was Charlie Weasley.

Amelia then asked the boy about his reasons to not pursue a career in the DMLE to which he replied that he wished to become a dragon handler.

Then professor castle suggested that students should showcase their skill to the guests and as such an informal dueling competition started although most of the duels were short and Lilly had to admit that some of the students were very good. In the end it was only Tonks and the Weasleyboy left.

Professor Fitwlick then introduced both of them to Kingsley and Amelia as the part of the trio that would represent Hogwarts in the dueling tournament in Japan next year.

And just then Kingsley asked Professor Fitwlick,

"Ah yes, I noticed that the team is missing its third member. Mr. Black right?"

"Yes yes, I am afraid he is a bit late, which is very unlike him I assure you," Fitwlick replied.

This caused Lilly to worry a little, and she thought about the reasons that could cause him to be late , and she hoped he was all right but her mind was put to ease when Charlie suddenly exclaimed,

"Oh there he is!" he said pointing towards the door but from where Lilly was standing she couldn't see anything outside the room.

But just then he entered. And upon seeing him Lilly potter wanted nothing more than to run to him and engulf her baby boy in a tight hug and never let go of him again. But she somehow composed herself and controlled her emotions and observed her son.

He was tall, he could easily pass off as a second or even a third year student. He had shoulder length hair, but the most magnetic feature was his eyes, they were so similar to her own. She remembered the he was born and when she had held him for the first time and looked into his eyes and had felt a connection, an emotion that she later came to relate to that of a mother.

But it was then that she noted that his eyes were not exactly like her's , like they once were. They were the eyes of the person who had seen hardship and misery, and those thoughts brought tears to her eyes.

She then noticed the way he moved, with a grace that made it look like he was floating in air and the way he carried himself with confidence. All in all he radiated an aura of power.

'My baby boy had grown into a handsome boy,' she thought fondly.

She looked at kingsley and Amelia and she then realized that she was not the only one taken aback by the appearance of Harr-no,Perseus she corrected herself mentally.

"You are late,Black,"Professor Castle said.

Perseus just gave a smile and said,

"You can't rush style,Professor."

Then introductions were made and she noticed that both Amelia and Kingsley held some amnosity towards her son, although it was not that obvious.

'Must be because he's a Black now,' she thought sadly.

Then Charlie weasley and tonks went to duel, and what she saw impressed her and she knew why they were the best duelers at Hogwarts.

'And to think my son is as good as them, probably even better according to Minerva, and he is just in first year,' she though with pride.

They were both trading spells, firing at such speed that Lilly was finding it hard to follow but just then the unfortunate happened and tonks stumbled and fell on her back. But it seemed like a good thing as just then three consecutive stunners fired by Charlie passed over her and while that she fired a disarming spell at Charlie, whose wand flew out of his hand towards the audience and was caught by Perseus.

Everyone was a bit surprised by the outcome of the duel. And then Perseus started clapping and rest joined in. Both of them got down from the platform and Perseus handed over the wand to Charlie and then Perseus turned towards Nymohadora and said in a bold but calm voice,

"Well done Nymphadora, I must say it takes real skill to choke on air, fall up stairs and trip over completely you seem to have that skill,"

Use of Tonks's first name irritated her as she fired a stinging hex at Harry but Harry just then, bent down and picked up something from the floor while the stinging hex went over him and struck the wall.

"Ah, look a knut!"Perseus said holding out a knut for all to see. But Lilly could have sworn that the knut was not there a moment ago.

Then Kingsley and Amelia came in and congratulated the duo over there performance and kingsley was sharing some tips with the both of them. Kingsley was telling Tonks to increase the number of spells in her arsenal and said,

"The more number of spells you know, the more feared you will be in a battle."

It was then that Perseus interrupted him and said,

"I must disagree with you on this point Auror Shakelbolt."

"And what reason you have for that?"surprisingly it was Amelia who asked it as she looked at Perseus in curiosity.

"Well I believe that as your opponent I won't be afraid of the hundreds of spells you have practiced once or twice , no" he said and gave a dramatic pause as he looked at everybody present.

"I would be afraid of that one spell that you practiced hundreds of time, that one spell you have mastered to such extend that you can cast it even under adverse conditions perfectly."

He finished speaking and Lilly couldn't help but agree with his point, even Amelia seemed to nod in understanding but unfortunately Kingsley did not share their point of view and said,

"What utter nonsense is that? There is no way one can win a duel against a trained fighter with just one spell."

"Oh well I can," Perseus said and Kingsley was about to retort when professor castle spoke up,

"Perhaps both of you should back up your claims in the arena, that would be great I guess."

His suggestion was received well by everyone beside Amelia and she was glad. For no matter how good Perseus was, he was still a student and Kingsley was one of the best aurors in the department, and Amelia spoke her mind

"Are you sure it's wise? No matter how good Mr. Black is, he is still a student and Kingsley is one of the best auror in the department," she asked Mr. castle just as Perseus and Kingsley got on the platform.

"Don't worry Amelia, even I was not able to defeat Perseus and I wish to see how well Kingsley can fare against him, speacially now that Perseus is in a way disabled in the duel."

Lilly was surprised as well as beaming in pride, for professor castle, an auror, even a retired one was not able to defeat her son. And she wondered what he meant by Perseus being disabled in the fight, and Amelia must be wondering the same for she asked him,

"Disabled?How?"

"Well Perseus would be using only two spells, when his strength lies in his knowledge of numerous spells and the creative ways in which he uses them,"Professor Castle told her and just then Perseus spoke up.

"I will be using only two spells, one offensive and one defensive spell, a shield charm and a stunner, and nothing else."

And Fitwlick, who was referee, said,

"First, duelers will bow."

And Kingsley bended his waist bowing, and Perseus too obliged but he just bowed his head slightly.

"Alright boy,"kingsley gestured to himself with both hands and said,

"Give it to me."

Perseus just shook his head and said,

"I don't take the first shot."

Kingsley just looked at Perseus for a moment and said,

"Okay,"Kingsley gave himself a shake, as if to clear the awkward moment."I'll start then."

And he fired a disarming spell at Perseus, who stood calmly, holding his wand lazily in his right spell was aimed at Perseus's head, Perseus didn't even react, he didn't even lift his wand and Lilly thought that that was it.

But Perseus surprised her as he just tilted his head a bit and the spell zoomed past him surprising Kingsley too.

Perseus then grinned and said,

"A disarming spell?" he asked, "What are you, eight?"

Kingsley looked affronted and said,

"Well enough with the kid's glove," and fired three consecutive stunners at Perseus.

Perseus raised his wand and waved it in a complex pattern and a silver, almost transparent shield appeared in front of him which absorbed the incoming stunners.

Lilly was surprised to see Perseus cast a complex spell silently and even kingsley and Amelia looked shocked.

The silver shield was still hovering in front of Perseus and no matter what spell kingsley fired , and no matter where he aimed it, the shield would just move with lightening speed and absorb the spell all the while Perseus looked at Kingsley in amusement.

It was then Kingsley did something unexpected. He used a dillusenment charm but there was still no sign of worry on Perseus's expression.

On the contrary Perseus's eyes which were now glowing even more roamed in a particular pattern, as if following someone's movement and suddenly Perseus raised his wand and in the blink of an eye fired a stunner at an empty spot.

But the stunner met a shield and kingsley's dillusenment charm wore off and he looked at Perseus in surprise. Even Lilly was surprised as she wondered how Perseus was able to see someone who was invisible just as she recalled Severus's words that Perseus might be able to see through a dillusenment she then wondered if Perseus had seen her too.

Kingsley was now furious, as he was using every spell he knew and was throwing them at Perseus with an incredible speed. But no matter what he did, Perseus's shield absorbed them all, the shield not only moved very fast to intercept the spells, it also grew in size when Kingsley had fired a dozen fireballs at him.

"My turn now,auror Shakelbolt," Perseus said out loud.

He then kept his wand slightly above his shield and fired a stunner which kingsley dodged but what Perseus did next shocked her to core. He fire stunners at such speed and succesion that reminded Lilly of the muggle machine gun. Lily also noted that Perseus only did the wand movement once, but stunners were still coming from his wand.

Kingsley tried to dodge the onslaught of spells but he just couldn't match the speed and he then used a protégo to protect himself and then started chanting a spell and finished just as his shield was broken and a golden dome formed around him, covering him completely.

But Perseus didn't stop and kept firing at him with the same fury. The golden dome was a very complicated and a tough charm and was a very powerful shield too.

But even that could not stand against the continuous attack of stunners by Perseus and there was a crack in the dome which panicked Kingsley a before he could do something,the golden dome shattered and two stunners hit kingsley square in the chest and he fell and Perseus stopped firing and vanished his shield with a wave of his wand.

"And the winner is Perseus black,"fitwlick announced as the students cheered and Amelia could only stare at Perseus in shock. Perseus then approached the prone form of the fallen auror and cast an enervate and held out his hand to him.

Kingsley took the offered hand and got up and congratulated Perseus. Then Amelia came to them and she too congratulated him and said,

"I must say Mr. Black, I have never seen such a duel before, and what was that shield, I have never seen a spell like that before."

"I agree with you Amelia, for I utilized every powerful spell I knew, but I just couldn't break that shield, it was pretty wicked," he said as he offered his hand for a handshake which Perseus accepted and said,

"Maybe I will teach that to you one day," and winked at him earning a chuckle from the auror.

"Lord black has taught you well, Mr. Black."

Lilly looked at her son and couldn't help but smile, Minerva was right when she said that he has got quite a personality. She saw as he chatted with everyone, laughed and enjoyed.

Slowly but eventually everyone left, except tonks and Perseus. Tonks was also about to leave so she asked Perseus

"You coming?"

"Nah, you go. I am going to practice some spells I picked up recently,"he said.

"Okay, be careful and a merry Christmas!" she replied and left the room too.

Lilly knew she should leave now, for she had seen how happy her son was, and that too when she had seen misfortune and hardship in his eyes earlier. She didn't want to bring more problems in his life, she just wanted him to be happy.

She had always wanted to know if he knew anything about her and she wondered if he knew how much she loved him. And so she made up her mind, despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to go and hug her son and beg him to come back, she decided to leave.

And so she saw her son once again , who was now standing against the window, with his back turned towards her. And with tears in her eyes she moved towards the door, glad that tonks had left it open. But she was about to leave when the doors closed on their own without even turning back, she knew he was behind it.

"Leaving already?" she heard the voice of her son and her heart skipped a beat.

'Oh merlin, he knows! But how did he see me under the cloak?' she thought and turned back and saw that Perseus was still in the same position and that answered her question about whether he knew about her or not.

Just then Perseus turned back and looked directly at her and gave a sad smile but his eyes were still glowing brightly and then he said,

"So much for Gryffindor courage."

Realizing that the cloak is of no use she took it off and with tears in her eyes looked at her long lost son.

Even Perseus, who prided himself for his control over his emotions, was not immune to the toil of the emotions and for the first time in many years a single tear escaped his eyes but Perseus did not care for he was looking at his mother after such a long time.

Lilly couldn't even move, she felt a mixture of emotions, sadness and happiness at the same time and looked at her son with fondness and then Perseus said in broken voice which was very unbecoming of him.

"Hello mum."

* * *

 **so guys , what do you think will happen now , how will their meeting turn out like . will someone interrupt their meeting .**

 **how did you like the duels, and the ritual .**

 **keep reading and plz plz plz review .**

 **bbye .**


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 9- ALLIES AND ENEMIES**

* * *

Lilly Potter had made up her mind to not disrupt Perseus's life by getting involved with him and thro his life into disorder , and so she was all set to leave, but then the door through which she was about to exit the room got shut on its own and she turned back and looked at Perseus, who was staring at her with unshed tears in his eyes.

"Hello mum."

Those two words were enough to break up her resolve, she had been trying to keep her emotions in check, which were on high drive from the moment she had seen Perseus, her son for the first time in so many years. But those emotions came back full force and she couldn't do anything as tears escaped her eyes.

She covered the distance between herself and Perseus quickly and engulfed him in a tight was only slightly shorter than herself, she noticed. She didn't want to let go of him,Perseus too was sobbing lightly and it was then that Perseus reciprocated her action and he too pulled his arms around her.

When she let go of him, she noticed with surprise that Perseus has been able to keep his emotions under control and had not shed even a single tear. Perseus must have sensed her thoughts as he suddenly spoke up,

"Do not take absence of tears for my lack of cannot describe how happy I am to finally meet you after all this time."

Lily could do nothing but smile sadly at that and it was then she noticed him properly. He was looking at her with such intensity as if a someone has been living in a cave and has looked at the sun after a long time.

"So Lord Black told you everything already?" Lily asked.

"He didn't tell me anything,"Perseus replied, and upon noticing lily's confused look he clarified,

"I mean he didn't have to tell me anything, I knew everything already."

Lily was shocked by this revelation but went on to tell him her side of the then proceeded to tell Perseus what had happened that night.

"You might not know this, but I was in a magical coma of sorts and from moment I woke up I have always dreamt of this moment," she said, still keeping her hands on Perseus's shoulder as if worried that he would vanish in thin air.

Both mother and son, sat and talked, their conversation about old memories, lily shared moments and incidents of Perseus's childhood. Lily Potter suddenly gave a soft yet sad laugh.

"What's funny?"Perseus asked.

"I am just laughing at the irony. You know,Dorea would always say, just to tease James and Charlus, that you are more Black than a Potter."

She gave a sad smile and even Perseus laughed for a was then that Lily said something very drastic as she looked at Perseus and said in a pleading tone,

"Please come back Perseus. Please return home."

Perseus went still for a moment, he then turned his head and looked at Lily for a moment and for the first time since she had met him, and lily saw something in Perseus's eyes that stunned her.

RAGE

Perseus was furious but he controlled himself and asked his mother in a calm tone,

"Return home? What home are you talking about?"

At hearing this more tears came forth Lilly's eyes, and after a moment she said,

"Your house Har-" she stooped mid sentence then continued,

"I mean your house Perseus, our house, to your family."

But Perseus cut her short,

"I am with my family, I am a Black now," he paused for a moment and then spoke up again,

"It's a parents duty to take care of their children, and in return children trusts them. But James Potter betrayed that trust. To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal. You see,"here he looked at Lilly again,

"I could conceive death, after all I have had a couple of close calls, but I could not conceive betrayal, but I guess I must thank your husband, for he taught me a valuable lesson, to never trust anyone."

Hearing him say those things hurt Lilly a lot but before she could say anything,Perseus gave a soft smile and then said , talking more to himself than her.

"Funny this betrayal is, it never comes from your enemies," he said and again looked at her and continued,

"You see, betrayal doesn't only break your heart, but also darkens your never forget the pain. Like a fog that forever lingers in the depths of your mind."

"I wish things hadn't turned out the way they did Perseus. I will do anything to make things right, anything," she said.

"A sad truth," Perseus said as he looked away from her and continued,

"No matter how much we wish to change the past, we cannot. They say the past is etched in the it isn't." Perseus paused and again looked at lily before continuing,

"It's smoke, trapped in a closed room, swirling, changing. Buffeted by the passing of years and wishful thinking. But even though our perception of it changes, one thing remains constant. The past can never be erased. It lingers like the scent of burning wood. And sometimes it can be suffocating."Perseus here gave her a sad smile.

Lilly was heartbroken at hearing this, she knew Perseus has suffered through a lot due to James's action but she decided to give it another try.

"James is extremely sorry for what he did Perseus, he-" she said but was cut short by Perseus who was getting angry by the moment as he stood up and said,

"Are you really going to take his side, defend him, that too in front of me?"Perseus roared and walked towards the window and looked at grounds for a moment as he composed himself and then said in a very calm but dangerous tone,

"James Potter abandoned me. When he abandoned me, he liberated me and I am thankful for it."

He said as he looked at Lilly,

"He is not sorry that he left me to die, James potter is sorry that I survived. That despite his attempts to ensure my end, I didn't die."

"No no, Perseus, why would he wish for your death?"Lilly Potter asked in despair.

"Isn't it obvious? He thought I was a squib, he didn't want me to bring shame to his family,and he was too much of a coward to kill me himself so he left it to this cruel world to do the job!"

Perseus said this and then walked towards Lily potter and put his hands on her shoulder and looked in her eyes. Green met green. And then he said in a low voice.

"And I would have died for sure. Had it not been for Arcturus Black, your eldest son would have died for real. Arcturus Black saved my life. And you want me to leave him now, and return back to that James Potter?"

He said James's name with such hatred that it made Lily realize that Perseus would never forgive James, but before she could say anything Perseus continued and said,

"If I were to abandon Arcturus Black now, the man who took care of me when I was alone , who loved me, then tell me mother what would be the difference between me and James Potter?"

Lily had no answer to his question but after a few moments she posed a question of her own, employing her last argument , and hoping that her son's resolve would falter at her plight .

"But what have I done, what did I do wrong, why should I suffer from the loss of my son when I did nothing to warrant it. Why?"

Perseus looked at her for a moment and analyzed the situation, he of course knew what to say in answer to her question, but he was contemplating whether he should or shouldn't as he knew it was bound to hurt her even more. Then he made up his mind and looked at Lilly with a hard glare and said in an accusing tone.

"Because you forgave him."

He waited for a moment to let his words sink in and the again said,

"Because, even after knowing what he did, you stayed with forgave him, just like that, and that is why mother you too should suffer the pain."

Lilly Potter was stunned, she didn't know what to say but Perseus continued.

"Your son, Harry Potter is dead. Perseus Black is not your son."

But before Lilly could say anything, Perseus raised his hand and stopped her; he then quickly scanned the room and fixed his sight at the door of the room. He then gave a sly smile and suddenly said out loud,

"You know what they say about eavesdropping,Headmaster"

Lilly thought that Perseus was perhaps imagining things but Perseus continued to look at the door. She was about to shake him off when suddenly a figure appeared. It was indeed the Headmaster.

Albus Dumbledore, stood tall, as if he has not just been caught eavesdropping on a private conversation. He then looked at Perseus and said,

"Well my philosophy about eavesdropping is to never get caught."

"Great philosophy. How did you slip through my wards headmaster?"Perseus asked. He was not worried that Dumbledore knew about his past. He knew Snape would have told Dumbledore that much already.

"It's Hogwarts. I have told you already Perseus, in Hogwarts I am nearly invincible. Those were some pretty strong wards indeed, had it been any place other than Hogwarts, then I am sure I could not have slipped through them without your notice "

Lilly was shocked, for she didn't hear anyone enter the was even more shocked that Perseus was able to even spot the Headmaster. But then she got angry at Albus for interfering and she yelled at him,

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing Albus?You can't just spy on people like that!"

"I am extremely sorry Lilly, initially it wasn't my plan to listen in to your conversation. I just sensed the presence of someone in the castle who shouldn't be here. And then I thought that I too should talk to Perseus regarding this whole situation," he said while looking at Lilly, his blue eyes twinkling.

"And what gave you the impression that you have any say in this matter?"Perseus asked in an impassive tone.

"Well I just wanted to come clean with a few things, Perseus; you see I too had a hand in this whole situation."

"What are you taking about?" Perseus asked.

"You see Perseus, it was I, who noticed that you were a squib, and I informed James about the same, and we all know what happened after I just wanted to say I am extremely sorry for that,"Dumbledore said.

It was a new revelation for Perseus; he stood still for a moment and then said in a snarky tone,

"And what do you say now Headmaster? Still think I am a squib?"Perseus asked.

"No. For the love of Merlin,Perseus, no I don't and I agree I made a mistake and I apologize for it."

"You have nothing to apologize for Headmaster,"Perseus said as Dumbledore looked at him with interest and Perseus said again,

"You see, you were nothing to me, you had no duty or responsibility towards me, it wasn't you who abandoned me and-"

"But a small mistake of mine, tore apart a family," Dumbledore said while cutting him short to which Perseus replied angrily

"No Headmaster, it didn't tear a family apart, just me."

"Perseus, my boy, please forgive them, be a better man. James, Lilly, they all miss you. They-"

"Well headmaster, if they miss me then they should remember that I didn't leave on my own, I was sent away," Perseus said as he gave Lilly a pointed look.

"Perseus please, holding a grudge is never good for anyone." The aged headmaster said to which Perseus replied,

"I don't hold any grudges Professor. We are good. You may not hear from me ever again, but we are good."

"Please try to understand Perseus, it isn't the people that are bad, it's the circumstances, and what James did, though not right, his actions were still I am saying is-"

"I see what you are doing, you are saving faces."He then looked at Lilly and said again in an accusing tone,

"And I thought you were here because you wanted to see me, that you cared about me but I see even you have taken Potter's can I be so stupid."

"No no Perseus, I-" she tried to protest but Perseus didn't let her speak.

"You chose James Potter and that is why I cut all my ties with you. From this moment forth, I would never call you mother again."

This struck Lilly didn't know what to do, what to say to sooth her son's wound, but Perseus again said,

"Of course you gave birth to me and you took care of me for four years, and I would always cherish that time and I owe you for that, I-"

Lily cut Perseus short and said in a small voice,

"What are you saying, Perseus? You don't owe me 's a mother's duty to take care of her children,"Lilly said as she took a step towards Perseus. But Perseus took a step back and shook his head, stopping Lilly in her track. He then said,

"Yes, but you are not my mother anymore, and as such I owe you for that. And I give you my words that when the time comes, I will pay my debt, I always do."

"Please don't hate me," she said mustering every ounce of affection she held for her eldest son to which perseus replied by saying,

"I don't hate you. I am just not necessarily excited about your existence. I don't hate anyone. Either I love people or I don't care. And from this moment , I don't care about you."

Lilly potter stood still, contemplating the depth of his words when Dumbledore asked him,

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you hate James Potter?"to which Perseus gave a sly smile and said,

"If I had a bow and only two arrows and was in a room with Voldermort, Grindlewald and James Potter, I would shoot James Potter twice."

With that Perseus proceeded to leave the room but stopped after taking a few steps, his back towards lily and a shocked Dumbledore who had an unreadable look in his eyes

"I hope you understand that I will never renounce the house of Black, and if anyone, I mean anyone, makes even a slightest attempt to do anything to coerce me to do otherwise, well not only they would fail miserably but," here he turned his head back slightly and looked at Lilly and then said again,

"I will vanish, never to be found. Remember you couldn't find me until I showed myself, and I can do that again. You have hurt me enough , if you ever cared for me even a bit , then you will leave me alone, that is all ask. I hope you understand and would make some undesirable parties understand that too."

With that Perseus left the room making his way towards the dungeons. He was angry and he didn't want to unleash his rage. But apparently fate had some other plans for he came face to face with someone he had no desire to see.

Peeves.

"Oh look Blacky Blacky Black, out of bed, now Peeves will have his revenge," he said as he was about to throw a water balloon at roared at him.

"Don't Peeves, I am in a very bad mood today, get out of my sight before I hurt you," Perseus said, his eyes glinting dangerously.

But Peeves gave no heed to his warning and threw the water balloon at him. Perseus just waved his hand and the balloon vanished,

"Well I did warn you," Perseus said and before Peeves could throw another balloon,Perseus started muttering a chant.

 _Me tidýnami ton stoicheíon_

 _Soidesmévounedókaitóra !_

 _Potéxaná den prépeinaafínontaieléfthera_

 _Me opoiodípoteméso í trópo !_

The effect was immediate,Peeves was getting worried now as he couldn't move, and he was frozen mid-air. He could just speak and shake his head a bit, but peeves said again,

"Don't you know Black, you cannot harm me?" and started laughing like lunatic. But before Perseus could respond, a loud thundering voice called out Peeves's name.

"Peeves."

The Bloody Baron was floating towards them, and he had a murderous look in his eyes but before bloody baron could say a word Perseus said,

"So you think, I cannot hurt you that is where you went wrong. I can hurt anyone and anything"

Perseus then lifted his hand and in a moment summoned his sword. The moment the Stygian iron blade appeared, the temperature of the corridor dropped immensely, the fire in the torchlight dimmed.

Both,Bloody Baron and Peeves looked at the sword with fear, and rightly iron was the best conductor of necromancy and soul magic. It was also extremely lethal to spirits and poltergeist. One slash of Perseus's blade would ensure the destruction of Peeves.

"No no nononono, please don't, please, I beg you. I will do anything you will say," Peeves was now muttering.

"Please forgive him, my liege. I will ensure that peeves behaves from now on in your spare him,MyLord."

Perseus spared the ghost a look and then raised his sword towards peeves and muttered a spell.

 _Eímai to foseímaiénasgia_

 _ischyríóstenakatapolemísei_

 _epistrépsetestoskotádi ,_

 _ópoukatoikeískiés_

 _katatropotheí me aftíxórki !_

The spell , one that Perseus had learned from the shamans ,freed peeves from his bindings and he flew away in an instant. Perseus then turned towards the Baron and said in a grave tone,

"Make sure he behaves from now on."

"Yes, my liege."

With that Perseus made his way towards the dungeons and retired for the day.

Unknown to him, his little show with peeves, had spread through the castle ghosts like wildfire. Every ghost was afraid of the Black heir now. And it was this reputation that would ultimately earn him the title of The _**Phantom Lord**_ and _**The**_ _ **Ghost King.**_

While the said lord entered his dorm, his breath shaky , and leaned back on the door. He cursed himself for hurting Lily intentionally, and for accusing her of not caring for him. He slumped on the ground , shaking and berated himself for saying such hurtful things to his mother; one person he knew loved him unconditionally.

He raised his wand slowly, his hand shaking and closed his eyes as he used his occulemency to bring forth a very old memory , perhaps the oldest. he smiled as he saw a young girl , with red hairs and bright emerald eyes looking at him with pure love . the only memory of his that was powerful enough to cast a particular spell .He smiled and with his eyes still close muttered .

" _expecto patronum_ "

He opened his eyes and was met by a majestic and translucent silvery doe standing in front of him and for the first time in years a single tear escaped his eyes , which glinted in the light coming from the patronus . he kept looking at the doe and he fell asleep .

* * *

Perseus walked out on the ground, towards the forbidden forest. Feeling lightly out of the new year spirit. He has off course decided to skip the entered the forbidden forest and soon reached the field where he had been working out for the last three months.

He has been trying to forget his encounter with his mother but hecouldn' was still angry at her and even at in his rage punched the nearby tree. Such was his strength that the ancient tree shook violently, and also tore the skin of his hand.

Perseus healed his hand and sat down at the base of the tree. This clearing was in a perfect circle, surrounded by eight huge ancient trees. There were magical torches around the field which lit up with a wave of his hand.

Perseus then thought about the last few days. He had tried to put his encounter with Lilly Potter behind. He had received a letter from her on Christmas. He pulled the letter out of his jacket and read it once more.

 _DEAR Perseus_

 _You are my child and I love you dearly. I know that I made terrible mistakes with you._ _I know that you must be in a lot of pain to want to cut off any relation with me._ _I am glad now that you let me know how you feel._ _I am so sorry for_ _the ways that I let you down as a mother._ _I could understand why that would make it harder to have a relationship with me._

 _I am happy that you are forging ahead with your passions and your life. I am pleased for you and I am proud of you whether you want that or not. All I want is for you to let me know if you intend this silence to last for ever? If so, then please help me to understand why._

 _For all these years when you were gone,_ _I would look out for you on every street corner. A tiny glimmer of hope would briefly possess me whenever I saw someone who might be you. My vision cruelly morphed the most unlikely strangers in to your shape. Many times each day my brain played tricks._

 _You were below the surface of everything. I never truly laughed, never relaxed or content. Tears would burst out of me at the most inappropriate moments, at any reminder of you._

 _I carried you inside me for nine months, in my arms for four years, and will carry you in my heart till the day I die._

 _I still remember the day you were born, when I laid eyes on you for the first time and I felt a certain connection with you. I adored your smile, I cherished your hugs, I admired your heart but most of all, I loved that you were my son._

 _I didn't know what to give you for Christmas. And that is why I am sending you a picture; the picture is the first one of you and me together._

 _You have decided to cut all ties with me and I would respect your decision. I have ensured that no one would reveal anything about your birth to anyone. Although it is my wish that you would not hate your siblings because of us._

 _I hope there are ways that I can make it up to you in the future. I have tried hard to make amends to you and am willing to continue talking about whatever is important to you about the past if it can move us closer together. I do want to hear what you feel and would always be open to a letter, or a meeting, anything!_

 _I really want you to be happy, and I am coming to accept that you don't want to have a relationship with me. It's heartbreaking, as your mother, to not be able to see you or talk to you._

 _I want you to know that the door will be open for the rest of your life if you change your mind. Until then, I will respect your wishes and refrain from contacting you. But please allow me the privilege to send you a letter on certain occasions like this one._

 _I promise to always love you in whoever you decide to be. I promise to be there for you, whenever you need me._

 _With love_

 _Your mother._

Perseus gave the letter another look, the handwriting was shaky and there were water stains over the parchament, clear indication that she was crying while writing it.

'What did she mean by siblings?There is only must have made a spelling error?'

Perseus thought and looked at the picture Lilly potter had showed a relatively young LillyPotter holding a bundle of blankets, which were wrapped around a baby. And Perseus looked at the scene and then put the picture as well as the letter in his moleskin pouch.

as a Christmas gifts from Nicklaus , he had received a book on advance charms , very advance actually , if not for all his tutoring from his great aunt Cassiopeia and voldermort's knowledge , he would not have been able to understand anything from that book, but the book did contain concepts that he was unaware of , and Perseus concluded that Nicklaus has been able to deduce his skills in charms correctly . He had received chocolates from Helena. Perseus himself hadn't put much thought into Christmas presents he had sent, so he got chocolates for everyone.

He had sent a special Christmas gift to Slade Wilson, a gladius, that he himself had crafted earlier this year. It was not a magical blade, but it was crafted beautifully. It was a token of appreciation that Perseus felt for his trainer.

He had also received a letter from his grandfather, and the content of the letter had troubled him a lot. According to his grandfather, situation was not ideal in Oceania, some werewolves were attacking the people. He had written that it was a rebellion by werewolves who have had enough due to oppressions and shame they had to endure as the ministry regulations were followed in Oceania, which were very anti-werewolf .Perseus was extremely worried about his grandfather.

He was contemplating over his grandfather's problem and how he could help him. He was brought out of his days when a unicorn entered the clearing. It must have been attracted by the light .

The unicorn was walking very slowly, and it was then Perseus notice a silvery liquid flowing from its neck.

It was wounded.

Perseus immediately stood up and approached the unicorn slowly. The unicorn must have sensed no danger from him for he allowed Perseus to approach him. Which was surprising .

The wound was not deadly, a few healing charms later the wound was healed and Perseus vanished the unicorns blood. The unicorn showed his appreciation by nuzzling him.

Perseus then looked the unicorn straight in the eyes and said in an inquisitive tone.

"Who hurt you?Why would someone hurt you?"

Perseus got his answer a moment later when he sensed someone enter the clearing behind him, and the unicorn ran away from him, leaving the clearing.

Perseus stood up and turned to face the newcomer. he was a handsome man who stood about 5'11" in height, and had a thin but muscular body. He had short brown hair, with hazel brown eyes. His facial features were angular - high cheekbones, a strong jaw line, and a straight nose. He appeared to be in his early to mid twenties, somewhere between then noticed his attire, his clothing indicative of a nobleman.

He looked quite harmless. But Perseus's gut was telling him that the man in front of him was actually quite up in the food chain.

"What are you doing out here boy? This forest is a dangerous place, dark creatures roam this forest," he said in a smooth tone.

"First meeting usually warrant introductions," Perseus said in an impassive tone.

"Ah of course. My name is Adamastos, and who would you be boy?" he asked.

"Perseus,"he replied.

The figure looked at him for a moment and then said,

"It's interesting, really, that you are not afraid of me, but I guess that is because you do not know who I am yet," he said.

"Oh I know who you are, or should I say, what you are,"Perseus replied.

"Ah a clever what am I Perseus?"

"Vampire," Perseus said.

"Ah!You are a pretty smart boy."

Then Adamastos inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. After a moment he opened them and said,

"Your blood smells incredibly magnificent; I wonder what it would taste like."

"I am flattered, really, but I assure you I am not at all delicious."

At hearing that the vampire gave a cruel smile and was about to lunge at Perseus when Perseus said,

"Don't. Don't even think of attacking me, it won't end well for you."

The vampire laughed at that and asked,

"And what can you do Perseus? I am way stronger and faster than you,"

And as if to prove his statement he kicked the tree that Perseus had punched some time ago, the tree was uprooted in one blow. But Perseus didn't break his resolve.

"I will kill you,"Perseus said as if it didn't mean much.

Adamastos laughed again.

"Laugh all you want vampire, I know perfectly well how to kill your kind."Perseus said and to prove his point he cast the same spell he had learned from Slade, the one that will burn the nerve endings in the vampire's brain and as Alistair had informed him; only ancient vampires will recover from it quickly like he himself had done, what Alistair had later informed him was called _The Spell Of Vrasmos_.

But the only indication Perseus got that the spell had worked was a small hiss from the vampire but after that the vampire started laughing while the spell was still in effect.

"Oh you really do know your stuff, only a handful of wizards have known that spell," he said which shocked Perseus as it appeared as if the vampire was immune to the effect of that spell, something even Alistair couldn't achieve.

'But Alistair is one of the oldest vampire in existence. Then who is this vampire?' Perseus thought and suddenly he recalled what Alistair had said.

'what this spell does is boil the blood in our head, and burn the nerves in our brain, now any other young vampire will be rendered unconscious by this spell, and a wizard's brain after continuous exposure might pop up. But it won't work very well on older vampires and I assure you it has never worked on an elder vampire, their healing ability is beyond anything.'His mind was going overdrive with this piece of information and then the vampire said confirming his suspicions.

"I am really surprised that you know that spell. A magic as old as me. Were it any other vampire and you could have defeated him easily, even kill him,but do you know how to kill an elder vampire or should I say, the eldest vampire," he said as he gave a sly smile.

This revelation shocked Perseus, he wasn't prepared or strong enough to take on an elder vampire, his mind suddenly recalled the fight between voldermort and Alistair from the dark lord's memories.

'voldermort had to employ everything he knew in order to defeat Alistair, and this vampire is way stronger than him,' Perseus thought but then Perseus thought about the runic array below the clearing. If it could nullify the power of an extremely strong wizard, it should also work for an elder vampire.

After his encounter with hagrid he had placed a runic array on the ground. Once activated it would drain the energy out of anyone other than Perseus himself. He had learned this from Balthazar Black's journal when he had trapped a very powerful wizard in it.

The runic array was basically a nullifying field, the wizard that Balthazar had trapped couldn't even perform the simplest of spell and was brought his knees within seconds.

"As a matter of fact, yes Alastairs, I can bring you down too,"Perseuss said.

"Oh really?And how would you do that?"

Perseus stared at the vampire for a moment and concluded from his body's movements that he was about to attack so he said the activation phrase, that would charge the nullifying field.

"Archízo,"Perseus yelled and the effect was immediate.

The runes glowed below them, fire erupted around the clearing to ensure that the captured person won't be able to escape. It was a testament to the elder vampire's power that the runes that could suck the enery out of anyone within seconds , the vampire wasn't much affected by it. It took a minute to get The vampire was on his knees but he stood up again , and was about to make an exit when Perseus again used the _The Spell Of Vrasmos_ on him . this time the vampire did scream from the pain, as his powerful body was stripped of his immense healing abilities temporarily as every ounce of energy started leaving his body, his skin lost color and turned ash grey and within moments his body went limp.

Perseus didn't know what to do now; he couldn't kill the vampire, as he had never heard of anything that could kill an elder vampire. He couldn't leave him either, for when the vampire would gain consciousness, he would hunt Perseus forever to get revenge. And perseus was sure that even Alistair and his grandfather won't be able to protect him from what was probably the oldest living being on earth .

It was then that Perseus recalled a ritual he had learned from the a shaman, one jontrabolta had asked to teach him about rituals. The shaman had once performed the same ritual to bind a werewolf to him. _The ritual of obedience_. The ritual would erase any kind of ill will or mala fide the vampire had towards him; it was almost identical to the ritual performed by wizards centuries ago which bonded the house elves to them and the entire race became subservient to them. But he couldn't perform the ritual at Hogwarts.

His mind made,he left the clearing and then he called out to his loyal house elf.

"Rokky."

And in an instant the elf appeared in front of him.

"Master Perseus, how can rokky serve you?"

"Rokky, listen to me very carefully. I want you to take me, and that man over there," he said as he pointed towards the limp body of the vampire and then continued speaking,

"Take us to the island."That being said Perseus summoned the vampire's body and Rokky placed a hand on him. And they disappeared from the forbidden forest and appeared in front of a small cottage.

"Rokky get him to the ritual chamber, "Perseus said as he entered the cottage and made his way towards the storage room. He got a vial of powdered unicorn's horn and made his way towards the basement, which was a ritual room, 5 stories deep, and made up of stone. Voldemort had performed most of his powerful rituals in this very room.

He approached the body of the vampire and made a cut on his wrist and drew a bit of blood in a bowl and added the powdered unicorn's horn and added a bit of his own blood. It turned pitch black within seconds .

He then used his carving knife and dipped it in the liquid and etched runes on the vampire's forehead. His work done he stood up and called Rokky again.

"Rokky go out in the woods and gather dry woods, and make a big bonfire outside the cottage."

"Yes Master Perseus," and with that the elf vanished.

Perseus then again moved towards the storage room and came outside the cottage with a thestral's skull and the hide of a dragon. By the time he was back Rokky had prepared a massive bonfire.

Perseus put the body of the elder vampire on one side and he stood on the other side of it and sent an incendio charm and lit the woods.

He then took the bowl and poured the black liquid in the fire and the fire rose to about 10 feet in height. Hethen started chanting in ancient tongue.

 _bidamealaahadhasihr_

 _'atlub'iilaaalssunadat al'_

 _amrikiatlilhaya ._

 _'iidhakanahd_

 _yaeishalakhar la yamuta._

 _'iidhakanahdllil'_

 _adhaaalakharyaqumkadhalik._

He then moved forward and threw the thestrals's skull into the fire and within moments the fire gained purple color. And the Perseus chanted again.

 _minkhilaleunsursayatabatalak_

 _laqad'aemahumdaw'anlak_

 _minkhilalalzzalam , wasawftuhitbik_

With that the fire grew to an alarming height and also intensity. But still Perseus threw the hide of the dragon and then again chanted.

 _fisahlbashri_

 _tastatieyusabbib_

 _li'ay 'alamqaribaan_

 _wajhaksayaltaqialshshiela" ._

Two thick ropes of fire emerged, one completely engulfed the elder vampire and the other wrapped around Perseus like a snake. The heat was hurting Perseus but he still continued.

 _I tarbitukum min_

 _alssahiratalshsharirat ,_

 _walssihralshsharir_

 _ealaaeataqi ,_

 _walssahr lays 'akthar_

With that the heat intensified, and for a moment Perseus thought that he would be burnt alive but then suddenly the fire died down and Perseus, completely spent from the ritual, fell on his knees.

He gathered some energy and made his way towards the elder vampire who was now getting up on his feet. For a moment Perseus was worried that the vampire would attack him, but he was relieved to see that the vampire was looking at him questioningly, as if expecting an order.

"Follow me," Perseus said and went inside the cottage and conjured two armchairs and sat on one and motioned Adamastos to take the other. Which he did.

"How do you feel?" Perseus asked.

"Tired,exhausted," he replied. "I have never been this tired in my entire life, well my entire life as a vampire," he paused for a moment and then looked at Perseus and asked,

"What did you do to me, I know I am now somehow servitude to you, but how? I should feel angry at you yet I somehow want nothing more than to follow your orders and to please you."

"Let's say, I tuned you a bit and you will find that answer satisfactory and will not question or think about it again," Perseus said and realized that it was just like his a very deeply embedded imperio.

"Yes my Lord."

"And you will call me Perseus only when we are alone. I didn't wish to do this ritual but I had no choice, I would really like it if you were to consider me your friend," Perseus said to which he nodded.

"Now tell me, what did you mean when you said you are the eldest vampire?"Perseus asked.

"I was the eldest of the three who became the first vampires. It all began 1600 years ago. I was disciple of a very powerful witch named Diana, along with another was a very knowledgeable witch but one day her archnemesis, Udonna returned back to the village after traveling across the world.

Somewhere during her travels, she came across a tribe of wizards, who possessed a unique trait. They all were natural animagus , and they all transformed into a dire wolf. The ability was in their blood and was passed down from father to son. Even when they were not in their animagus form, they were physically quite powerful and fast.

When Udonna returned she started experimenting, trying to recreate those shape shifters but all she managed to achieve were the abomination, that are now called werewolves. They were nothing like those shape shifters, for their transformation was subject to the full moon and they didn't turn into direwolves. They were a curse on humankind. Diana was at loss, at how to combat these creatures.

And as such she too derived a ritual to strengthen the wizards, and we, that is Aaron and I volunteered for it. But Diana's husband Salukis volunteered too. And we became the first vampire to roam this earth. We were powerful, we were fast, we healed so fast that we couldn't be killed.

But we soon realized, that to combat the curse of lycanthropy, Diana had unleashed another curse upon .

We three went out and tore apart Udonna's army, every werewolf, but some escaped. Udonna was too strong for Diana to defeat alone, but in the end I ripped her heart out. To prevent anyone from retracing udonna's footstep we burnt her griomrs, and also her tower.

"Then what happened?"Perseus asked curiosity getting the better of him.

"The fight with Udonna had taken it's toll upon Diana, and as a result she passed three of us spent some time together, about a century. Learning about our powers. We learned how to compel others. We then discovered how to create more vampires. And we have been roaming this earth ever since."

"What about those shape shifters? I have never heard of such power before,"Perseus asked and indeed he hadn't, beings who were as powerful as the elder vampires, he was really amazed.

After Diana's death, in his rage Salukis tracked down the tribe of those shape shifters. And then we killed them all too. Those shapeshifters were extremely more so than us three. We didn't know that of course and went to fight them to end their their human form they were not as fast as us but almost as strong as us. The only reason we made out of there alive was that we cannot be we realized that their venom was extremely excruciating for took us four days to recover from that was painful," he said and perseus asked him,

"What did you do then?"

"Aaron was adamant about anhilating their tribe, and so we formed a plan; a very dangerous plan. Diana had inherited from her ancestors the ring of evisque. It provided the bearer an ultimate form of invisibility. It also masked the scent and sound coming from the wearer. We gathered the pit scorpion venom and the basilisk venom, the two most potent venoms on this planet. Then I under the effect of that ring went to their settlement and spiked their ration. Within moments the venom started working after they had was a testament of their strength that even those two venoms could not kill them, but it made them weak."Here he paused for a moment and then continued,

"We then slaughtered them, we did not want to take any chance so we ripped everyone's heart was then that I stumbled across a woman, for some reasons she had not consumed the dinner but still she did not transform into a wolf. I then heard along with her heartbeat another faint beating of a heart. She was with a they couldn't turn if a woman was that made me stop. I could not end her and her unborn child," he said and gave a sad smile and said again,

"I guess I still had some humanity left in me. I decided to spare her but I knew Salukis would not share my sentiments so I told her to flee and to find a way to not only mask herself but also her power and to ensure that no shapeshifter would ever surface again and to aid her I gave her the ring of evisque." He finished and then Perseus asked,

"So did you ever come across a shapeshifter ever again?" to which he replied,

"No. She either didn't make it far or she was successful in masking her and her child's powers or perhaps suppress that power. But the odds of that are very low."

"Why is that?" Perseus asked.

"Well, I don't think there was anyone with enough power and knowledge to suppress that kind of power."

"So what did you do next?" Perseus asked.

"We then decided to burn Diana's work, her grimoires, everything, so that no one could create monsters like us again," Adamastos said, although Perseus noticed that his tone faltered a bit and so he inquired about it,

"What is it? What did you do?"

Adamastos looked at Perseus for a moment and then he said,

"Aaron and Salukis thought that we had burn everything, when in reality I had already moved everything to a different location."

"What? But why would you do that?" Perseus asked in confusion .

"Before I was turned, I was not a normal wizard Perseus. I was a siphoner. I didn't have magic of my own. And when we turned, I noticed that I had greater degree of immunity from magic than them both. And it was with these hopes that I would be able to do magic again I hid Diana's work. But It was no use."

Perseus's mind was reeling with information, he wanted to get his hands on the spell books of the witch who created the vampires.

"Tell me about your powers,how immortal you really are. I mean I know a vampire could be killed, ancient vampires can eventually recover even from a killing what about an elder vampire?"

"Well you know, super strength, super speed, fast healing, compulsion, immunity against most spells. I have fought many powerful wizards Perseus, and on occasions I had come pretty close to dying, but none could kill me. The fiendfire can't burn me, the killing curse would only put me out of commission for an a few seconds."

"Compulsion?" Perseus asked in wonder.

"yes , the power only we three have, it is very similar to a very subtly cast powerful imperio " he replied and Perseus almost laughed at the irony of the situation .

"Who is the strongest amongst the three of you? Aaron, Salukis or you?"Perseus asked.

"At the risk of sounding cocky I would say me, and there is a reason for that. I was a siphoner , so when I was young I thought I was non-magical and as such I learned how to fight, hand to hand combat. I mastered the use of almost every weapon. And as such after the transformation, when we didn't have magic to aid us, I had more skill. I was faster and stronger than them."

"Another theory I have is that, the day of the transformation, I had siphoned magic from thirteen wizards. I had drained them completely as instructed by my mentor. I was brimming with power, so much power, that I found it hard to control. Every ritual requires a sacrifice and the sacrifice in that ritual was our magic. Our magic was changed as a result of that ritual. But since I had the magic of thirteen wizards within me, it made me superior to them. Where it takes Aaron and Salukis about half a minute to regain consciousness after being hit by a killing curse and an entire day to recuperate their strength. I on the other hand am immune to it , only a bit of pain where the spell hits ."

Perseus took all the information in, he was really excited to learn about such powers, and then he asked,

"Has any wizard ever defeated you?Anyone of you three, literally brought you to your knees?"

"Well not me or Salukis, but yes Aaron was defeated by a powerful wizard once."Now this surprised Perseus.

"What happened?" he asked, as even Alistair had not known what happened to his brother.

"It was the year 1865, Aaron was posing as a noble wizard in the kingdom of Olympia. But one day he lost control, and the prince of Olympia tried to kill him but Aaron snapped his neck. He slaughtered many that day. Fortunately for the people of Olympia, the wizard was in the town and he fought Aaron. The rumors were that the wizard was as strong and as fast as Aaron, plus he wielded extremely powerful magic. They fought for 3 days and three nights but in the end the wizard got the upper hand and stabbed him with his scepter must have been an extremely powerful magical object for its attack brought Aaron to his knees and he begged for mercy."

"The wizard decided to forgive him for Aaron felt remorse for his actions and he then made an unbreakable wow, to protect the royal family of Olympia and the kingdom too and its people from any threat.I don't know the how breaking of an unbreakable wow would affect an elder, and I have no desire to find out and I guess Aaron feels the same way. For the last century and a half he had protected Olympia. And Olympia had prospered under his protection."

"Who was this wizard that could defeat an elder vampire?"

"The very wizard, who trained Aristrodemos. The same wizard who taught the art of warfare to your grandfather and Busirius. The very same warrior who taught Grindelwald battle magik and then trained Dumbledore and made him capable of defeating then he took his last disciple Lord Voldemort. His name is-"

"Aristaeus the great," Perseus finished, having known about the ancient wizard from Voldemort's memories as well as from his grandfather. His grandfather would always speak of him fondly.

'Grandfather has taught me the art of warfare and i know everything that Voldemort had learned from Aristaeus, so in a way I posses the knowledge of 2 of his disciples,'Perseus thought.

"Very well, I think we should return now, I have a task for you Adamastos," Perseus said.

"Anything my Lord," he replied.

"I want you to spread the word of your defeat at my hand in the vampire community,that would earn me a dangerous reputation."

"I will send out envoys in every direction my lord; I will make sure that vampires, even the ancient ones would tremble at the mere mention of your name."

"Very well,from now on you will be my shadow and will meet again in London when the term has then I want you to find some things,"Perseus said as he got up and took out the strange book from his robes and was about to tear the last page from it when adamastos stopped him as he looked at the book with wide eyes.

"where did you find this journal my lord? We thought we burned it,"he said to which Perseus asked,

"What are you taking about?"

"This is definitely the symbol of Udonna, so maybe this journal belongs to her descendants," he answered.

"Oh but it's blank," Perseus said as he turned to the first page of journal and was shocked to see something written on the first page, something that wasn't there the last time.

'So the ritual worked,'Perseus realized as he smiled a bit and the read what was written in the journal. It was written in ancient Greek.

 _Ότανείναικαινούργια, δενμπορείναδεικαθόλου_

 _ΑλλάαυτόςμεγαλώνειμεκάθενύχταπτώσηΚαιόπως_

 _οίδιοςαργαλειούςπάνωαπότοντοίχοΆκουκαινα_

 _ακούσουντηνέκκλησητουμοναχικόςλύκος_

Perseus translated it and read it out loud for even Adamastos to listen.

 _When new, he can't be seen at all_

 _But he grows with each night fall_

 _And as he looms over the wall_

 _Hark and hear the lone wolf's call_

A RIDDLE .

They both thought about it for a minute when they both got the answer at the same time as they said at once.

"Moon." But alas there was no change in the journal, a bit disappointed perseus was about to put it back when it clicked and he open the journal again and said,

"fengári."

Which meant moon in ancient greek and suddenly the riddle vanished and writing appeared on the rummaged through the pages and found it all to be handwritten. And he was elated beyond measure. He had in his hands what could probably the journal of Udonna or her gestured for adamastos to stand up as he did the same.

Perseus then took hold of Adamastos and got Rokky to take them back to the forbidden forest from where they parted was glad that he had obtained such a powerful ally, he had a feeling that it would be extremely useful in the future to have the power, resources of the elder vampire at his disposal.

* * *

Perseus was sitting in the library and was reading a book about incorporating transfurgation in duels. The holidays were over. And he had already started to extract anything worthwhile from the journal, and as it turned out it was Udonna's journal, Perseus didn't know how it got into the room of requirement or even inside Hogwarts which was built some 600 years after her fall.

'Maybe I will be able to cure lycanthropy or at least find some way to counter the curse,'Perseus though just as he was joined by Nick and Helena. They had returned back after the winter break.

"You won't believe what I learned in the break, Perseus," Nicklaus said in a cheerful tone.

"What?" Perseus asked without even looking up from the book he was reading.

"I successfully cast a patronus, a corporeal patronus," he said all the while jumping with joy.

This got Perseus's attention as he turned to look at Nicklaus and said,

"That's really amazing Nicklaus, I think you are the youngest wizard to be able to do so," Perseus said trying hard to not let his mind wander to that night.

"Youngest in the last four hundred years,"Nick said.

"Ask him about what form it takes," Helena said in a gleeful tone.

Perseus looked at Nicklaus questioningly, while Nicklaus glared at Helena, who was snickering along with Cedric. Nicklaus then looked at Perseus and mumbled,

"Lion, it's a lion."

Perseus just looked at Nicklaus for a moment than he too joined Helena and Cedric and laughed.

"it's not funny, stop laughing,lion is a cool animal,"Nicklaus said.

"We are laughing at the irony of the situation Nick. A slytherin'spatronus is a lion, now that is funny,"Cedric said and even Nicklaus laughed a bit. After sometime Helena spoke up and asked Perseus.

"Hey Perseus, did you hear about Busirius?"

"What about him?" Perseus asked.

"Well, he has taken the princes of velos as his apprentice."

"What?" Perseus asked, this was a shocking new and troubling too.

"Wait wait hold on, what are you talking about? Who is this Busirius character?"

Helena looked at Nicklaus and Cedric for a moment before she got into the lecturer mode and said,

"Busirius is an extremely powerful and knowledgeable wizard, he is one of the disciple of Aristaeus. Busirius, Grindlewald and Perseus's grandfather studied under his tulage together."

Both Nicklaus and Cedric looked at Perseus for confirmation and then Cedric spoke up,

"Whoa whoa who is this Aristaeus guy?" Nicklaus asked.

"You don't know about Aristaeus the great?"Helena asked and Nicklaus shook his head.

"ARISTAEUS is a very powerful wizard, and pretty old too. He was the first wizard to ever defeat every nation in Europe and some of Asia. Over the time he took in some wizards as his apprentice and they all turned out to be extremely powerful wizards." Helena said.

"You have to understand this,"Perseus said,

"That nations like Oceania, Olympia, Romania, the city of Velos, and other nations where monarchy is prevalent, despite every effort that ICW has taken to remove the kings from their thrones, they couldn't."

"And there is a good reason for that. All of these nations have certain people who even ICW could not bring down. Most kingdoms have strength in there is Aristrodemos in the Velos city, the kingdom of Moria is protected by its ancient wards, Olympia is guarded by the mighty Aaron," here he gave a pointed look towards Helena indicating that he knew about the elder that shocked Helena as Aaron's existence was a very guarded secret and then Helena said,

"And Oceania is under the rule of Lord Arcturus Black, Perseus's grandfather, another disciple of Aristaeus."

"A lot of wars where ICW was trying to coerce the rulers of these nations to give up their powers, but to no end. Finally in 1948, Dumbledore got ICW to sign a peace treaty with these kingdoms."

"Whoa wait a minute, are you telling me that even Dumbledore couldn't defeat them and what about dark lord Grindelwald?"Cedric asked in amazement.

"I can't say, because Dumbledore never fought them in the first place, and there is a reason behind that too."

"You see Grindelwald was a student of Aristaeus too. And such he was a pretty fierce warrior, Dumbledore had approached my grandfather,Aristrodemos, and Busirius to give aid against grindlewald. But they all refused, for it was an unspoken rule that the disciples of Aristaeus don't fight amongst themselves, which is also why Grindelwald never attacked Oceania and city of Velos. And as such Dumbledore went to Aristaeus and from what I have heard he approached Aristaeus and told him about his student's reign of terror."

"Anyway ARISTAEUS then said he did not have the heart to kill his own student but he wished to put an end to it and such he took Dumbledore as his student too and trained him in the art of warfare. When Dumbledore returned he was able to defeat Grindelwald."

"But why don't they fight amongst themselves?"Cedric asked.

"Well first of all they are the students of the same master, and their skill and knowledge is almost equal, but the major reason was, if they were to fight with each other, one would win and one would loose, in any case a student of Aristaeus would lose, which would be considered an insult to his ability as a teacher."

"Wow, so in total Aristaeushad taken five apprentice, your grandfather, Aristrodemos, Busirius, Dumbledore and Grindelwald." Nicklaus said.

"No,"Perseus said.

"What?"

"Six, he had taken six apprentice,"Perseus said.

"Who is the sixth?" Cedric asked and even Helena looked at him questioningly and Perseus looked at them gravely and then he answered,

"Voldemort."

Nicklaus and Cedric flinched at the mere mention of the dark lord's name but Perseus again said,

"There is a reason as to why Voldemort was such a powerful and feared wizard, my grandfather told me that voldemort was the only student of Aristaeus who had learned the most from him, he was so skilled that for the first time Aristaeus had proclaimed that except Aristaeus himself no one could defeat voldemort in magical duel. But when the news of Voldemort's attacks reached Aristaeus, he was saddened that now two of his students had taken the path of evil, and that his students were fighting amongst themselves, and such he chose self-exile and started living in solace somewhere in Himalayan mountains and decided to never take another apprentice."

"But this news about Busirius teaching the princes of Velos, is troubling news. It will tilt the balance of power in their favour,"Perseus said.

'I will have to tell grandfather about it, Busirius is using Velos for his own purpose, to take revenge upon grandfather,'Perseus thought just as Helena spoke up.

"But that's not the only disturbing news, my cousin told me about another rumor about Busirius."

"What is it?" Perseus asked.

"Rumor is that a boy from one of the village of Romania, Akram was his name,was secretly watching the lessons Busirius was giving the princes and was learning from him. When Busirius got to know about it, he accused Akram of stealing his knowledge and as a punishment he cut his arms, rendering him unable to magic."

"ohh Merlin."

"That'scruel," Cedric said.

'No that can't be the only reason for Busirius to cut off his arms, could it be possible that Busirius realized that this Akram had more potential than his students and decided to remove a possible hindrance to his plans?'Perseus thought.

"Yes its cruel indeed,"Helena said and Perseus decided to change the looked at Nicklaus and said,

"Nicklaus can you do me a favor?Can you teach Nymphadoraand Charlie the patronus charm? I got a feeling that it would be helpful for the tournament."

"Oh sure, I can teach you too Perseus," Nicklaus said.

"No need of that, I already know how to," Perseus replied.

"But you just said, wait can you cast a patronus?" Nicklaus asked in confusion.

"I said I know how to cast a patronus, not that I can cast one,"Perseus said coldly and with that he got up and left the library. He had to write a couple of letters

* * *

.

Perseus rubbed his eyes tiredly. He could currently be found sitting alone in his dorm room with a multitude of books opened around him with random pieces of parchment covered in his notes strewn all over his desk. This wasn't a rare sight, especially this time of year.

It was the beginning of June and the end of year exams were fast approaching. The exams weren't nearly as important compared to fifth year OWL or his seventh year NEWT examinations, but they were a way for him to measure his capacity so that he can feel safe to continue with his independent studies. He was certain that he didn't need to study for his Transfiguration or Charms exams, nor did he think he would ever, but that didn't mean he could completely disregard his other subjects in favor of them.

So here he was, in his room, alone on this beautiful summer day, looking over all of his notes on the subjects he wasn't so confident in, making sure he knew everything the professors had told them they should know if they wanted to get excellent marks.

Ever since his return from Christmas breaks, Perseus had spent most of his time either learning the spells and theory from the grimoire of Balthazar Black and also translating Udonna's journal. Finally he had read everything from Balthazar's had also, through Nicklaus, become somewhat closer with Helena and Cedric, though he still didn't feel too comfortable around them yet; he just didn't know them well enough.

That's not to say he knew anything about Nicklaus either,other than that his parents had died during in one of death eater attack and that he lived with his grandparents. He liked to watch Quidditch, and was exceptionally good at charms, even more so than boy has been able to produce a corporeal patronus at the age of 12 and that was something. Fitwlick had sent Nicklaus's name to the charms guild and he would be on the cover page of this year'scharms magazine.

Magically packing away his books and notes with a flick of his wand, Perseus decided on going for a walk after washing his face; he was naturally an active boy and being cooped up inside a dark room all morning and most of the afternoon just didn't sit well with him. He thought about the tournament. Nicklaus was giving lessons to Charlie and Nymphadora. They were also training regularly with ProfessorCastle and ProfessorFitwlick.

Passing several students on his way down studying in silence and trying not to disturb the fifth and seventh year students diligently studying for their OWL and NEWT exams, Perseus opened the door to his common room and snuck out without anyone noticing.

The castle of Hogwarts, where magic was taught to children and performed by professors on a daily professor was not just a pile of rubble, clumped together to form a castle, it too was full of magic. Perseushad, by accident, happened on a number of secret passages that cut his travelling time around the prestigious school by at least half that could be accessed by a number of different course, he had found most of these when the infamous Weasley twins were on several of their 'great escapes' from the caretaker Filch after one of their rather ingenious pranks. The two may not be academically impressive, but their ability to make people laugh was matched by no one.

Approaching the statue of Oddbog the Weird, Perseus tugged on his earlobe causing the fairly large stone structure to temporarily move aside, allowing him passage to a rather dark and winding tunnel that would lead him to a completely different section of the castle. Exiting the secret passage by tapping the back of the statue on the other end of the tunnel, Perseus stepped around it and found himself in a part of the castle that mostly had empty classrooms and deserted corridors. The school was initially built one thousand years ago as the only magical institution in Europe, so obviously, it catered to more students; now though, the excess space was just left deserted so that curious students could explore if they so wished.

Perseus passed by several corridors, not really caring where he was walking just happy to stretch his legs when he suddenly heard the muffled voices of the infamous a quick dillusionment charm on himself he approached the twins who were holding a large piece of parchment in their hand and were studying it intently. Then suddenly they both turned sideways and looked exactly where Perseus stood

"we know you are there Black, you may come out now," Fred said.

But Perseus didn't comply with their wishes. Hean alyzed the situation and wondered how the twins were able to spot him, he realized that somehow the piece of parchment in their hand was the reason behind it.

Perseus then pressed the sapphire on the silver bracelet that he had gotten from the room of requirement. Perseus had earlier discovered that the bracelet offered a better form of invisibility, and hoping it would somehow evade whatever the twins were using Perseus activated it. It must have worked for the twins exclaimed in surprise and one of them said.

"Whoa! Where did he go Fred?He was right here!"

"Do you think he apparated?" the other who Perseus now knew was George then proceeded to look at their auras, it would be beneficial to be able to identify the twins from now on.

"No you can't appqarate in and outside of Hogwarts George, the map must have made a mistake," Fred said and then Perseus approached the duo and what he found shocked him.

The parchment they were holding was actually a map, a freaking map of Hogwarts, Perseus looked closely and he realized that the map showed the position of everyone in the castle and their movements.

'so this is how they knew I was here, this is really ingenious , and dangerous in the wrong hands' Perseus thought just as George raised his wand and pressed it against the map and muttered,

"Mischief managed."

'And it's password protected, brilliant,'Perseus knew he had to get his hands on the map, but he didn't wish to steal it from the weasley twins, they were pretty decent kids after all and Perseus liked their sense of humor and appreciated their pranks. Then George folded the map and was about to pocket it when Perseus summoned it .

Both of them turned back and looked shocked as they saw the map flying away from them. And just as Perseus caught the map in his hands the map too got suddenly an idea struck Perseus and he smirked inwardly and cast a sound muffling charm on his neck. The charm was supposed to modify the voice of the speaker and it would make it appear as if the sound was coming from all the directions.

"Who, who is there?" Fred asked in a fearful tone.

"I am Hogwarts," Perseus said, the charm doing its job as the twins jumped in surprise and were looking around frantically trying to find the source of the voice as it was coming from all directions.

"hoooggwarts?" George stammered.

"Yes Hogwarts, the essence of this castle,"Perseus said.

"What do you want from us?" Fred asked.

"Tell me about this map, where did you get it from?"

"We found it just like that," Fred said.

"Lie," Perseussaid, his voice booming.

"Ok ok, we stole it from Filch's cabinet," George said.

"How does this map work?"

"You just place the wand over it and say 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' and the map will appear and when done with it say 'mischief managed'."

"Very well then children, leave now and I will return this map to its rightful owner," Perseus said and the twins ran away from the corridor and Perseus started laughing, the charm made it sound quite a menacing laughter and the retreating weasleys squealed in fright.

* * *

Perseus looked at the small envelope in his hands warily before looking around the slytrherin common room to see several excited or disappointed students discussing the contents of their own. He had just finished his exams a few days ago, something he was very glad for.

As predicted, the Transfiguration and Charms examinations were easy for Perseus, his only problem was if they wouldn't mark him well if he added more information than necessary or answers that were above his school level.

The toughest examination had definitely been History which was just a mass regurgitation of names and dates that he had crammed the night before the actual exams. Astronomy was fairly easy, as was Herbology.

The Potions exam was rather tricky to call. He was certain he did well with brewing the rash-curing potion but one-sided animosity between the Potions professor and himself would surely hinder his results somewhat, or at least he thought.

Perseus moved towards a mirror in the common room to adjust his scarf just as Nicklaus approached him from behind.

"Well, how did you do? I promise not to laugh," said Nicklaus cheekily, waving his 3rd in the year rank around in his face. After the exams, each student's scores are tallied up and averaged out so they could be ranked amongst their peers. It wasn't much of a surprise that most of the top ten consisted of Ravenclaw students, however, he was pleasantly surprised to see that Cedric had ranked 8th.

Perseus opened the letter and quickly skimmed over the letter, shielding it from nicklaus's view, much to the boy's chagrin. Perseus then looked up to the boy with a neutral face,

"I did okay," he supplied with a small grin and showed the boy his card through the mirror.

"Hah, victory is mine Black! It says here you're seventh!" he said smugly.

Perseus grinned, to Nicklaus's confusion. "That's a '1' you idiot, you are looking at the reflection" several of the students who overheard the declaration hurried over to see the score sheet themselves.

"You've all earned some rest, so have fun for the rest of the evening until the feast tonight! I'll see you then children!"Perseus said cockily before leaving the common room.

He had taken a more secluded route from the dungeon when he heard the sound of someone laughing . but he gave it no head but then he heard it

'please , please ,just let me go '

It was definitely a girl's voice and Perseus deduced that the said girl was also crying . he hurridly made his way towards the source of the voice and what he saw filled him with rage. Five boys, all slytherin , four appeared to be in their seventh or sixth year while one of the looked to be in his third year . but what angered him was the sight of a girl who was slumped on the ground, ravenclaw going by her uniform , probably in her third year too .

Her books were scattered on the floor beside her , he noticed the title of the books , which were pretty advance for a third year student but at the risk of being a hypocrite perseus gave it no heed. Then one of the older student said to the girl in a menacing tone

"that is what happens when you dare outperform your betters ,you mudblood . this is your final warning, if you ever outperformed my brother , a mighty pureblood , " here he indicated towards the younger slytherin and then continued

"you won't like the consequences" and then he silently sent an _incendio_ at her books which started burning and it was then Perseus came into action and Said in a hiss he said

"what is going on here" which caused the Slytherins to turn towards him and they all instinctively gulped and took a step back, for the sight in front of them was quite frightening .

There stood Perseus , his eyes glowing, in the dark dungeons, and he cast a wide area cooling charm wandlessly which caused everyone to shiver and their breaths frosty .

The third year Slytherin gathered some courage and said

"begone black , this is none of your business " and the other four looked at the younger member of their group in worry . They were definitely afraid of Perseus , the best dueler of Hogwarts , and they have all heard the ghosts talking about him , calling him _The Ghost King_ and _The Phantom Lord_ . and today they got to know the reason as to why even peeves and the bloody baron were afraid of him as Perseus walked towards them and with a wave from his wand the fire from the burning books rose and took the form of a five snakes and the said snakes wrapped themselves around the five bullies

"how about I burn you the way you burnt her books" Perseus said in a grave tone and they all started begging him to spare them to which Perseus replied

"I hope for your sake that I will not even hear about any such incident again , and also that you will never ever touch this girl again"

All of them nodded and Perseus let go of the spell and the fire vanished and they all ran from the dungeons as if their life depended on it . Perseus then looked at the girl who appeared to be in shock and was definitely afraid of Perseus too. He dispelled the cooling charm and knelt beside her which caused her to gulp loudly.

"don't worry , I won't hurt you" he said as he conjured a glass of water and handed it to her , she wasn't much surprised to see this advance magic, well advance for a first year. But perseus has creates such a reputation that now people were hardly surprised by his display of advance magic and knowledge.

The girl drank the water and the glass vanished itself and Perseus then helped he get up. He then noticed that they were of the same height and was quite beautiful too. He then asked her

"What is your name?"

"Penny uhm , I mean Penelope , Penelope Clearwater " she said and then blushed for no apparent reason

"are you all right , do you wish to go to the hospital wing? " Perseus asked

"No no uhm, I am um fine, I was just going to the library" she stammered and Perseus nodded and said again

"very well then, I will escort you Ms Clearwater "

"no no, I will be fine" she said hastily

"I insist Ms. Clearwater " Perseus replied .

"well then I insist you call me penny , all my friends do" she said although her eyes got a bit wide after saying it . Perseus looked at her intently for a moment . His emerald eyes looking he in the eye and she felt as if Perseus was looking at her soul . Then suddenly he said with a smile

"very well penny , " Perseus said as he motioned with his hand to start moving and they both walked towards the grounds as penny just softy said to him

"thank you "

* * *

Perseus walked alongside nicklaus to the great hall for the end of year feast. The feast was a time all slytherins looked forward to; having won the house cup four years in a row, this was their time to shine and claim the house cup once again. It was something they all took pride in as a house.

"Yes, welcome students to the end of the school year, and what a wonderful year it has been!" boomed the loud and cheerful voice of Albus Dumbledore, their headmaster."I hope you all bear with an old man's ramblings for a short while as I make a few necessary announcements; I promise you will be sinking your teeth into a large delicious feast soon enough," he declared, eyes twinkling as he stood from his chair in the middle of the head table.

"First, I would like us all to thank Professor Castle on a wonderful year of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Unfortunately for us, he has decided to take a different path now, so he will be unable to return to us next year. Can I ask for a round of applause for Professor Castle in thanks and congratulations?" he said cheerfully as the majority of the school clapped politely for him while the normally scarred face of said Professor was covered in a blush.

"Ah, now there's the matter of the house cup," the headmaster announced cheerfully while the entire hall lapsed into silence."In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and seventy points, a wonderful effort!" he said, not surprising anyone, the Gryffindors already knew of their low score.

"In third place…" he paused, with a large smile on his face as the students leaned in closely,"Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty two points," he announced. The puffs all cheered their own achievement while everyone else in the room gave polite applause also.

"In second place, with an impressive score…Ravenclaw house with four hundred and forty points!"At the declaration, the Ravenclaws all went silent while Silver and green banners magically appeared from the ceiling and cheers erupted from the snake's table.

"Which obviously means our winners this year, Slytherin house by a wide margin with five hundred and fifty points!" he announced as the Slytherins continued to cheer.

"And with that, enjoy the feast and your summers!" he said with a clap of his hands as the tables filled with mouthwatering food."I hope to see all of youcome September, eager to learn and begin another year at Hogwarts!"

Perseus took one last look at Hogwarts from Hogsmeade station before boarding the express to make his way back to London.

"Got any plans for the summer?"Nicklaus asked Cedric who had been in a conversation about all the 'pretty' girls in their year while making their way over to the station.

"My father got us tickets for the Quidditch world cup in Tokyo," he said with some pride."I'll probably do my homework as quick as possible and then take an international portkey over to watch the tournament," he said with a huge grin. Amos Diggory, Cedric's father worked at the ministry and seemed to have many connections in high places.

"Oh, you're so lucky! I wish I could go…"Nicklaus trailed off, looking to Helena on his right.

"Hey Perseus!" Perseus heard someone call him at the compartment's door. Looking around, he was met with a familiar head of pink hair that could only be Nymphadora Tonks and Charlie Weasley.

"Professor Castle has agreed to train us over the summer holidays too, every Sunday evening, would you like to join us?"Charlie asked.

"No thanks Charlie, but I will be training somewhere else,"Perseus said giving them both a secretive smile.

"Oh where?" nymohadora asked him.

"The place which is famous for producing the most hardened warriors,"Perseus said and he was about to continue when Helena said,

"Oceania."

"Correct," Perseus said. He had written to his grandfather about spending the summer in Oceania, he had resisted at first citing that the situation was not that good over there but eventually he gave in and had sent Perseus a letter telling him that he himself won't be able to receive him from king's cross, but he would be sending his most trusted man, Tyler to receive him.

The train finally arrived at the station and Perseus got off the train and looked around as his other friends bid him farewell. Nodding to them, he wondered who this Tyler was when he heard someone call out his name from behind. Turning around he saw a man with tanned skin, short black hair and dark brown eyes. His height was between 5'7" to 5'9". he had a muscular and toned wore black jeans with a t-shirt and a jacket.

"Master Black, my name is Tyler and Lord Black has sent me to escort you to Oceania," he said.

"Nice to meet you Tyler, but we have to make one more stop before we leave for Oceania," Perseus said which caused a confused look to come over his face. But before anyone could say anything a smooth voice interrupted him.

"My lord."

Perseus turned around and Adamastos standing there. Perseus gave him a nod and he walked towards them.

"How are you doing Adam?" Perseus asked as that is what he had started calling the elder vampire

"I am well my lord," he replied while Tyler gave Adam a confused look.

"Adam meet Tyler,"Perseus said motioning him and then said,

"And Tyler this is Adamastos, my most trusted employee."

They both shook hands and then Perseus asked Adam,

"Did you find him?"

"Yes, I dispatched my best tracker to find him the moment I received your letter and I also got his acadmic history from Archnae," he replied, Perseus had sent Adamastos a letter instructing him to find Akram and to keep an eye on him.

"Very well then,let's go shall we?"Perseus said and Adamastos took a rope from his robe and Perseus touched it and looked at Tyler expectantly.

"Where are we going Master Black?" he asked to which Perseus replied,

"Romania."

And in an instant they vanished and reappeared in a lush green forest. There was greenery as far as Perseus could see. And Perseus realized where they were and from the alarmed expressions of Tyler , he had too. It was Hoia Baciu Forest, considered by muggles the most haunted forest. Actually in reality it was inhabited by a clan of vampires who devoured any who entered deep in the forest and Perseus knew they were quite deep inside the forest . They have arrived at the base of a mountain. Perseus gave Adamastos a questioning look regarding the absence of any vampire to which he said

"the vampires were not willing to vacate the place, even on temporary basis and as such I had to terminate them all, " to which Perseus just nodded and Alistair spoke again

"We have to wait just for a few moments my Lord."And while they waited Perseus inquired about the information Adam had gotten from Archnae. The elder vampire said,

"He gratuadted from Archnae at the mere age of thirteen,five years then studied along with three different masters in archnae itself and within 7 years he had gotten his mastery in transfrugation, charms and runes. After this he travelled around the world. He is also very skilled in the use of various weapons as well as a few martial arts. He has never been defeated in a duel. He is regarded as one of the best students to come out of Archnae in centuries."

It was then that Tyler asked Perseus,

"What are we doing in Romania, Master Black?"

"We are here to meet someone," Perseus said just as a figure emerged from the clearing in front of them and Adamastos greeted him,

"I hope everything is fine Lelantos."

"Everything is fine to meet you Mister Black," Lelantos replied then said again,

"Target has set up a camp two miles south of here, I will lead you to him, Mister Black."

"No,"Perseus said."I will go alone."

"No," Adamastos and Tyler said in unison and Perseus gave them a pointed look,

"Are you sure that's wise my Lord?"Adamastos asked.

"Yes, I have to meet him 't worry Tyler, I will be fine," Perseus said as he saw Tyler about to protest.

With that Perseus moved deeper in the woods towards south and saw more and more of strangely shaped trees, and unexplained charring on tree stumps and branches. He soon came across a was tent, but Perseus's focus was on the man, who sat at the base of a huge tree. But just as Perseus took another step towards him, he said in a deep voice,

"Don't come near me boy, unless you wish for a gruesome death."

Perseus didn't stop and walked towards him and said while walking,

"I don't think you can hurt me, well at least not in your current state." This must have enraged him as he growled at Perseus. But what happened next shocked him. Five spears materialized around him and Perseus looked at the boy in front of him in surprise.

"Leave," he said threateningly but Perseus continued walking towards him and the spears which were hovering around in air, came towards him at incredible speed. But Perseus didn't falter he kept walking and just as the spears were about to reach him Perseus raised his hand and the spears stopped mid-air.

This must have surprised Akram as he stood up in shock. He had a blanket wrapped around then waved his wand and vanished the spears. He then said,

"I am not here to hurt you, on the contrary I am here to help name is Perseus Black."

"Help me?"he said and gave a short laugh as if he found it amusing and then said,

"No one can help me, why do you think I am living in the forest, away from the civilization? Because after I lost my arms, people shunned me. I was helpless."

"Then I am offering a hand of aid," Perseus said.

"And why would you do that?" he asked.

"Because I can relate with you.I too know the feeling of being betrayed by someone who I trusted, and when I heard about what Busirius did to you, I couldn't help but wish to help you, and that is why I am here," Perseus said, and whatever he had said must have struck a nerve because Akram looked at him with surprise, and Perseus could see anguish behind those coal black eyes.

"I was a very good wizard. I graduated with flying grades from archnae at the mere age of 13. I then studied under various masters at Romania, learning obscure magic.I then trained my body and learned how to fight. I was regarded as the best warrior in the entire Romania. I then wished to learn the art of warfare and I seeked out Busirius. He had taken the princes of Velos. I started to observe his lessons from afar. Whatever he taught the princes in the day, I would practice that in the night. This went on for two months when Busirius caught me." He gave a pause here.

Perseus didn't say anything as he observed the man in front of him. He seemed to be recalling a nightmare as he said in a broken tone,

"He asked me to display whatever I had learned from him, and I did. He said he was extremely pleased with me and had decided to take me as his apprentice and he wished to give me a gift, and asked me to close my eyes. I did just that and then he cut my arms off. It was excruciating pain and he then accused me of stealing his knowledge."

By now Akram was standing in front on me and just then the blanket that was wrapped around him, unwrapped itself and fell to the floor and Perseus looked at the armless man. He had a muscular built, broad chest, six pack abs, stood over six feet tall and then he started to speak again,

"This is what he did, but the pain it caused me was nothing compared to the pain I went through after that. When I returned back to Romania, I was shunned by everyone, but my family was supportive of me. I visited numerous healers but none could help me. And then the worst happened." Here he paused for a moment and stared at the fire.

"What happened?" Perseus asked.

"Our village was attacked by a pack of werewolves. They slaughtered everyone, and I was helpless. I could do nothing but watch in horror as those monsters tore apart my family. My mother , my sister, I couldn't help the knowledge and power I had acquired over the years, all my accomplishments were for nothing. I couldn't even bury them myself,"he said and by now he was shaking and tears had escaped his eyes.

Perseus was deeply saddened by the man's plight, he couldn't even wipe his own tears. Perseus raised his hand and wiped away his tears, he looked at Perseus with surprise.

"Don't cry. Make your enemies cry. Make them share your pain and grief," Perseus said and Akram gave a sad laugh.

"And how would I do that? The feeble wandless magic I can do is just sufficient to scare away average wizards, not the likes of Busirius."

"I is where I come in," Perseus said and he raised his wand and began casting a spell he had learned from Voldemort's enough liquid silver materialized out of thin air around his Akram's shoulders and took the shape of arms.

Akram looked at his silver arm in wonder; he flexed his arms repeatedly and looked at Perseus in amazement.

"How did you do it? Many great healers were unable to help me and you did it with a wave of your wand and that too at such young age. Who are you, really?" he asked in amazement.

"Age is just a number my friend," Perseus said.

"You have given me the means to take revenge,"he said as he stared at his arms.

"I will now kill Busirius."

"And then what?"Perseus asked to which Akram looked with confusion so Perseus elaborated,

"There is a place and time for everything. It's not time yet for you to kill Busirius."

"Why, why not?" he asked.

"Well firstly because you are not yet powerful enough to take on someone like Busirius. Secondly, even if you were to kill him, Aristrodemos will hunt you. You would be a hunted man, and once caught you will be tried for murder."

"Then what should I do?"

"Wait for the right opportunity, have patience and I promise you I will provide you with that then increase your strength and knowledge. Be patient, someday this pain will be useful to you,"Perseus said and Akram though over it for a moment and then said,

"You are right, but if I may ask, what do you expect in return for helping me?"

"What can you give me in return for all this?" Perseus asked as he smiled at him.

Akram then unsheathed a knife and placed it at his neck and then said,

"You have done a lot for me, you helped me when the entire world shunned me and turned a blind eye to the injustice that I you were to ask even for my life, I would gladly give it."

"I don't need your life Akram, I decided to help you because I could relate with your having something in common is the basis of the bond of friendship. So Akram I don't need your life in return, your friendship would suffice. I would consider myself fortunate to consider you a friend. Some one I could trust,"Perseus said.

Akram at hearing this gave a rare but sad smile; he then took his knife and carved something on his bare chest.

"What are-"Perseus tried to ask but he cut him short,

"Wait, trust me."

He carved certain runes on his chest,Perseus recognized those runes. It was ritual that mimicked the effect of the unbreakable vow, albeit to a lesser degree.

He then placed one of his hands on his chest and asked Perseus to shake his other hand and then he said,

"I Akram Caulan, with my blood and magic as witness,swear my loyalty to Perseus Aries Black. I will forever follow his command and will always be by his side."

With that a bright golden thread encircled around them and then faded. Perseus then realized that in a way Akram has binded himself in servitude to Perseus.

"Why would you do that?" a surprised Perseus asked.

"I know after being betrayed, it's difficult to trust. I wanted your trust in me to be absolute and that would have only happened if my loyalty to you were absolute."

Perseus looked at the warrior in front of him with admiration and then started healing his wounds and vanished the blood. He the conjured a shirt for him which he wore.

"So what now?"

"Well I can offer you a place in Oceania, if you would like that. You can train there and learn from my grandfather."

"Your grandfather?Lord Arcturus Black? Weren't he and Busirius fellow disciples of Aristaeus? It would be an honor to meet him."

"Yes, him. I would take your enthusiasm as a yes. Take whatever you wish to take with you and let'sgo."

Akram collected a few things from his tent and they both walked towards Adamastos and made the introductions and asked Tyler to take out the portkey. It was piece of wood. So all of them, Perseus,Adamastos, Arkam, Tyler and Lelantos grabbed the piece of wood and then Tyler said out loud,

"Oceania."

* * *

 **phew nearly 15K words. so guys first year is finished. how was this chapter.**

 **please tell me in the reviews.**

 **thanks for reading**


	9. Chapter 9

**POWERS TRANSCENDING TIME**

* * *

 **AN- Guys please help me out. i am in a dire need of a beta-reader. so if anyone of you is interested or if you know any beta reader , please PM me . now enjoy this chapter.**

 **lot of surprises in this chapter**

* * *

Snape and McGonagall were having tea with Professor Dumbledore in the headmaster's office. Noticing the troubled look on the aged wizard's face Snape asked him

"What troubles you Albus?"

Dumbledore looked at his potion master and gave a soft sigh and replied after a moment.

"Perseus"

"What about Black" Snape enquired. The revelation about Perseus Black has surprised him too and he couldn't help but feel sad for the said boy. Dumbledore put his cup back on the table and then said

"Nothing in particular , just worried about the future and thinking how he would turn out to be, you of all people should know this Severus that being betrayed by your loved ones is bound to leave a mark on his psyche , and in the case of powerful wizards like Perseus , the consequences could be dire for others too."

After listening to this a bewildered McGonagall asked Dumbledore.

"What are you saying Albus"

"I have seen how cases like this turn out to be Minerva, and I can't help but compare Perseus to another boy I once knew."

After a brief moment of confusion, understanding dawned upon her and she exclaimed and said in a condescending tone

"You can't believe that Albus, just because he is a Black and is in Slytherin does not mean he will turn out like HIM"

Minerva intentionally avoided saying 'his' name and Dumbledore looked at her and said

"It has nothing to do with him being a Black or his house, but the circumstance surrounding him and his skills . And above all what worries me is his desire to prove himself. I am-"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking as the temperature dropped drastically and thunder started rumbling outside, they all got up and looked outside the window and what they saw shocked them. Massive clouds loomed above the castle and within seconds it started raining.

"What is it, it's as if the clouds have a mind of their own, who can do such magic "McGonagall asked as she looked at Dumbledore.

Snape too looked at Dumbledore, who looked confused at first but then realization dawned upon him and his expression changed to one that the potion master has never associated with the powerful warlock.

FEAR.

"No no no, it can't be, they are supposed to be extinct" Albus Dumbledore whispered frantically and looked at the pearch where a baby phoenix was resting.

'fwakes won't be able to help in this state' he thought and then Dumbledore quickly dashed towards the door and called out to McGonagall

"Minerva get in contact with the DMLE and tell Amelia Bones that I have asked her to send as many aurrors as she can to Hogwarts and to tell them to be prepared for the most dangerous fight of their life."

McGonagall nodded after a moment as she was alarmed at hearing fear laced tone of Dumbledore and moved towards the floo.

Snape followed Dumbledore who was making his way towards the ground and he was surprised to see the speed with which Albus moved. And within minutes they were in the ground thanks to all the shortcuts and secret passages and soon the rest of the staff joined them.

By now the weather had become extremely harsh, torrents of rain poured upon them. One after another bolts of lightning struck the ground and Snape was surprised to notice that the ancient wards of Hogwarts were not able to block those attacks.

Soon enough McGonagall joined them and along with her came Amelia bones with a force of 3 dozen aurrors . Snape recognized most of them; kingsley, Dawlish , Potter. They assessed the situation for a few seconds after which Amelia gave a command and all the aurrors raised their wands and conjured shields, their shields merged with each other's and formed a thick golden dome around them.

But then came a massive bolt of lightning which tore through the dome like a knife through butter and most of the aurrors buckled under the strain and were rendered unconscious. Only half a dozen aurrors were able to get up again.

Albus Dumbledore stood tall and roared, his voice somehow magically amplified

"If you are to attack , then first reveal yourself"

As if to answer his challenge, a massive part of the dark clouds descended and moved towards them. Lightening dance around it. It made a steep dive towards them and knocked all of them over.

And it happened again, but only this time Snape, Dumbledore and Kingsley somehow managed to keep standing and fired curses at the massive form of cloud but it was all useless. It was like trying to put out fiendfire with a bucket of water.

The form of the cloud then flew upwards and settled around at the top of the astronomy tower and after a moment clouds dissipated and what they all saw left them in fear and awe. They were all stunned at the sight in front of them

There stood at the top of the astronomy tower an avian, the size of a baby dragon, covered in white feathers, flashes of lightning crackling over its wings, never darting away from them. Two curled horns stood out from its crown, and its long beak was filled with razor-sharp teeth

It's body was glowing with an eerie blue glow which gave him a majestic aura. It's large Black eyes looked at them all and they were all stunned, for they were looking at a magical creature that has only been spoken of in ancient legends.

 **A** **THUNDERBIRD**

It fired a massive lightning bolt from its horns at Dumbledore, Dumbledore raised a translucent silver shield which absorbed most of the power behind the attack yet a diminished bolt of lightning hit Dumbledore and knocked him out.

Severus looked at the majestic creature in front of him and regarded it as destruction and power personified. But seeing Dumbledore unconscious angered Snape and he lashes out at the thunderbird.

" _sectumsempra_ "

He yelled out but he was surprised when the avian blocked the curse with his wing.

The thunderbird then screeched and everyone fell to their knees and clutched their heads in agony. Except Severus Snape . He somehow understood why the thunderbird was here

'It is searching for someone'

He utilized every ounce of his ocullemency skills and looked at the thunderbird defiantly and said

"Whoever you are looking for, is not here"

The powerful creature must have somehow realized that too as it took flight and flew away from Hogwarts, leaving chaos and destruction behind

'I feel sorry for whoever this beast is looking for' Snape thought as he went to help those who have fallen unconscious.

* * *

"So tell me Perseus, how was your term at Hogwarts "Arcturus asked as they entered his chambers. They had arrived in Oceania an hour ago. It was a small island city with the royal castle at the west side. Perseus already knew a lot about Oceania, like; the wizards of Oceania attended Archnae institute of magic in Alexandria. And that Oceania has laws which made it mandatory for every able witch and wizard to go through the training and serve for a term of three years in the imperial army.

"It was well, better than what I expected" Perseus said and Alistair and Adamastos too entered behind them. Arcturus thought about the encounter between them.

The moment Alistair had seen Adamastos standing beside Perseus he had lounged at him and knocked him in the nearby pillar breaking it in the process . But with speed that almost made the elder vampire a blur , he attacked Alistair . And he would have ripped his heart out too had Alistair not apparated away and immediately stab the elder vampire in the back through his heart. But true to the legends , the elder vampire was truly immortal, as he had simply taken the blade out and would have killed Alistair had Perseus not commanded them both to stop .

At the end both the ancient vampires had made piece when it was revealed that they were on the same side . Arcturus was still baffled as to how Perseus was able to make such a powerful entity subservient to him.

'I will ask him later' he thought and he was broken out of his musings when his grandson said something

"Well did you hear about Busirius "Perseus asked Arcturus as he, Arcturus and Alistair and Adamastos sat in their respective seats in Arcturus's study.

"Aah yes , I did hear that Busirius has taken the princes of Velos city as his apprentice, what about it"

"What about it?" Perseus exclaimed and then asked again

"Aren't you worried that Busirius will use the resources of Velos against you in the future , this will tilt the balance of power in the favor of Velos" Perseus said

"I know child, but there is nothing I can do?" Arcturus replied

"But what is the reason behind his amnesty towards you grandfather" Perseus asked softly

Arcturus looked at Perseus for a moment and then gave a tired sigh and closed his eyes. And after a moment he snapped open his eyes and said

"There was a time my child when Busirius and I were good friends, when we studied together; we shared everything. I am not ashamed to admit that Busirius was a tad more skilled than me when it came to magic , although not as powerful as Grindlewald . He was powerful and I was lagging behind in my lessons. It was then that Busirius helped me and I made a promise to him that everything I have will be his too, just like he has shared his knowledge with me I will share my resources with him."

"When I became the heir to the house of Black, Busirius came forth and asked me to fulfill my promise of sharing my wealth with him and demanded half of the wealth of the house of Black."

Arcturus Black stopped for a moment took a sip from his firewhiskey while Alistair and Perseus waited patiently.

"I still remember that night, there was a gala hosted at our manor in my honor and it was then Busirius made his entry, accompanied by his wife .Every pureblood elite of England and some of other countries too were there. They laughed at Busirius , all of them , even my family members. My grandfather, the then lord Black ordered him to get off the property and called him a beggar and a vagabond. Busirius looked at me for any sort of support but I couldn't offer him any ."

Arcturus Black then gave Perseus a pleading look and said in a desperate tone

"You have to understand Perseus, I was young back then, I was brash and I was a fool and above all I was under a lot of scrutiny and pressure and I too ridiculed Busirius for taking a promise made in childhood this seriously. And I regret what I did till this day for you see Perseus"

Arcturus here gave Perseus a hard look and then said again

"The worst wound that can be inflicted upon a warrior is to his self esteem, and Busirius swore that day that he would take vengeance upon me. When I became the ruler of Oceania, it increased his hatred for me and he vowed that he would take everything from me."

Perseus listened patiently when finally Perseus spoke

"He couldn't fight you directly because the students of Aristaeus don't fight amongst themselves and also he would have been labeled as a criminal if he did. So what is he hoping for, to train the princes of Velos city and make them fight you."

"Most probably yes, because the princes of Velos will be backed by the resources as well as the army of Velos " Arcturus said

"And that's alarming news, we have to counter them" Perseus said but before he could speak further Alistair asked

"I am at loss as to how "

"Akram" Perseus said

"Akram? What about him, he seemed like a strong wizard but I doubt he would be able to fight Busirius or any other student of Aristaeus " Arcturus said as a matter of fact.

"Yes you are right, he can't now, but if you train him, then he surely can "Perseus said and Arcturus was about to say something but Perseus didn't let him

"No no, listen grandfather, Busirius cut his arms off, there must have been a reason behind this action of Busirius , and I think that reason was that Busirius must have considered Akram stronger and better than his apprentices . If you were to train him then yes he would be able counter Busirius, "

"I have never taken an apprentice Perseus, I am not a teacher" Arcturus said

"you taught me and I am sure Akram would be an amazing student, please grandfather , he deserves it, he has lost a lot due to Busirius's action, please take him as your apprentice

Arcturus pondered for a few minutes before he said

"Very well then I will take him as my apprentice "

"But do you really think that they would be able to fight Oceania, I mean the army of Oceania is one of the strongest army in Europe "Adamastos asked the Black lord to which he replied

"yes but every pack needs an alpha and every army needs a commander, when I was young I was able to command the army as well as oversee the administrative work together , but I have gotten old now, my strength is fading. Also don't forget that if we fight Velos we will also be fighting Aristrodemos, and he is a fearsome warrior and I alone won't be able to fight him"

Aristrodemos is old too , his strength must me fading too" Perseus stated

"He is a warrior , my child . and one should always fear a old man in a profession where men die young" Arcturus answered

"You are not alone lord Black, Perseus is alongside you and with him, I. Surely that should suffice" Adamastos said .

"Yes, an elder vampire you are but don't forget Aristaeus once defeated an elder vampire, who is to say that his student won't be able to do the same" Arcturus countered.

"You are right off course, then why haven't you scoured for a commander yet" Adamastos asked to which Alistair replied

"We can't think of anyone who has the potential of leading an army as big as that of Oceania "

"You are right off course; there would be two disciples of Aristaeus on their side so that is what we need. A student of Aristaeus on our side." It was Perseus who said that

"If you are talking about Albus Dumbledore my child, then let me tell you he won't be able to help us , for he is bound to the united isles by his post of the chief warlock. And let me tell you one thing, the ministry will not even lift a finger to help Oceania ." Arcturus said in a very grave tone

"I did not mean Dumbledore "

This caused both Arcturus and Alistair to look at Perseus in shock

"No not him" Arcturus said to which Perseus replied

"But why not , he is the right person, he was the only one who came close to what Aristaeus had achieved. Aristaeus had defeated every nation in Europe and some of Asia and Grindalwald was the only one who almost conquered Europe. He built an army from nothing and brought almost every nation in the continent to their knees."

"Are you even listening to yourself Perseus, he was labeled as the strongest dark lord before Voldemort." Arcturus said

"But you said it yourself once, in his time in nurmengaurd he showed remorse and also if he wanted to escape he could have definitely been able to escape the prison he built himself, don't you think" Perseus replied in a pleading tone

"But i-"

"Perseus, I agree with Lord Black. Dark lord Grindlewald was a very dangerous wizard but I also cannot refute your point that he is the best candidate for the commander of the army of Oceania" Alistair said

"But who is to say he won't turn against us " Arcturus asked Alistair

"We will find a solution to that too" Perseus assured him

"And how exactly would you get him out of prison child " Arcturus asked Perseus , to which he replied after a few moments

"Well you told me that once; just a few years after his defeat you offered him freedom, a second chance. How were you going to do that?"

"Well that was then, I was at the height of my power, I could get him out of prison and keep ICW at bay but it's not the same now" Arcturus Black said

"I can get him out of prison, it would take some time, about a month but I can" Adamastos said

"Don't you think people will recognize him, " Arcturus asked

"I have the answer to all of those problems. I got a plan, but first I have to talk to him , convince him to join our side and for that I will have to visit nurmengaurd " Perseus said

But before they could talk any further the portrait hanging on the wall behind Alistair , which was blank by now was occupied by a lady which said

"Lord Black, three people are waiting outside your chamber, and they wish to speak to you, one of them is Tyler the other introduced themselves as Akram and Lelantos "

"Let them in" Arcturus said

"Lord Black , this Tyler guy , I get a weird vibe from him, I can't put my finger on what it is but my gut tells me to be wary of him" Adamastos said to which Arcturus just smiled and said

"Funny, that is exactly what Tyler said about you and he doesn't even know who you are"

They were joined by the three of them and Perseus waved his wand and conjured 3 more comfortable looking chairs and the three took their seats all the while Perseus was looking at his wand strangely. Everyone else noticed this and Arcturus inquired about it

"What is it Perseus, I am sure it is indeed your own wand"

"Yes but, when I conjured these chairs, my wand vibrated, and it felt a bit off."Perseus said and after a moment put his wand in his hostler

'My wand has been acting weird for a few days , I will have to talk with Silas about it' Perseus thought and then looked at Akram and said

"Akram my friend, I have a good news for you, grandfather has agreed to train you "

A look of disbelief crossed his face and he looked at Arcturus Black who smiled softly and nodded in affirmation to which Akram said

"I am honored, lord Black, I give you my words I will be a great student"

"I know you will child, but first you need to get a wand, Tyler" he said and looked at Tyler and spoke again

"Please take Akram to Mr. Ollivander and get him a wand, your training starts tomorrow child"

With that both Akram and Tyler left and then Perseus turned towards Lelantos and said

"I have one more job for you Lelantos ; I want you to find someone"

"very well Mr. Black, tell me all you know about that person, like where he was born or his age, anything would be helpful" Lelantos replied to which Perseus replied after a brief look sadness came across his face

"I don't know where he was born, all I know is that six years ago he was in England and his age must be in his early twenties by now. But what I am about to tell you about him is very vital. There is something special about this wizard, he is a nullifier but what's special about him is that whenever he is in peril, a pitch Black would appear around him and cover him" so engrossed in regaling about that wizard that Perseus did not notice the look of recognisation on Lelantos 's face

"And his name is-"Perseus was saying but Lelantos spoke

"Alexander "

Perseus looked at Lelantos with surprise and then asked

"How did you know, have you met him?"

"Yes I have met him Mr. Black, because strangely enough you are not the first person to look for him, and yes six years ago I did encounter him in England and I tried to confront him, but he escaped and fled." Lelantos said and then continued speaking

"2 months later I cornered him in Germany, I attacked him; I threw my spear at him. It was a magical appear, goblin-made and hence unbreakable but before the spear could reach him suddenly out of nowhere a Black Armour appeared around him and covered his chest and torso. The spear made impact with his torso and my spear broke into two pieces. But that was not the end of it, for I could feel the magic of that armor from it's aura, because power was literally leaving my body and within moments I was on my knees and I felt like a regular mortal"

The description that wizard shocked everyone and Perseus then asked Lelantos

"Who had asked you to look for Alexander?"

"A woman from Moria, her name was Isabelle" he answered

"Very well first of all I want you to find that woman, and then take me to her, I wish to speak with her then continue with your search for Alexander "Perseus told him

"Yes Mr. Black" Lelantos said and with that he took his leave and it was then that Arcturus asked Perseus

"Who is this Alexander?"

Perseus looked at Arcturus for a moment and then said in a very soft tone

"I met him when I was in the orphanage, he saved my life and he is the reason I was alive when you found me, he came in my life and made me see the sun where I once only saw clouds. He believed in me so much that I started believing in myself too." Here Perseus paused and gave a sad smile and then continued speaking

"He took care of me and taught me the basics of magic; he was extremely good at magic. He was from Velos too. He is the reason why I have such amazing control over my magic. He was looking for his parents and he spotted me when I was being bullied by some children. Then one day he just vanished, till now his leaving has puzzled me until now, it must have been Lelantos who chased him away."

Arcturus Black absorbed this information then looked at the surprised elder vampire and asked him.

"You look surprised Adamastos" Arcturus asked to which he replied

"Yes I most certainly am surprised, you see nullifiers are extremely rare. There have been 25 siphoners in the last 1600 years while there have been only 4 praesdium. One of them was Diana herself. But never ever have there been two praesdium at the same time, it's a very rare talent"

"ohh " was all Perseus said

"I just hope Lelantos is able to find Alexander and maybe that Maria woman would be able to tell me something"

"I am sure Lelantos will, he is after all one of the best trackers in the world" Adamastos assured Perseus.

"So Perseus what are your plans for the vacations" Arcturus Black asked trying to change the topic .

"Well I have to train, as much as I can ,this tournament is going to be tough that is why I came here "Perseus replied

"Well in Oceania you can practice magic that is frowned upon or banned by the ministry" Arcturus said

"You mean the dark arts" Perseus inquired to which Arcturus replied

"no not just dark arts Perseus, there are other branches of magic too , for instance the blood ritual we did to make you a member of the house of Black , that's blood magic it is frowned upon in England "

"Lord Black is right, you should also practice with your nullifying powers" Adamastos said which caused Perseus to look at him with a blank expression as if the vampire has spoken in mermerish , which was surprising since Perseus knew mermerish

"What are you talking about "Perseus asked to which Adamastos said

"You probably don't know about the branch of magic that only a nullifier can use"

"No, unfortunately my knowledge about nullifiers is very limited" he said

"ohh good for you then , Diana was pretty good with her nullifiying powers , she once fought a wizard who had exceptional control over fiendfire, Diana the created a magical dome around her and that absorbed the fiendfire completely ." Adamastos said

"amazing" Arcturus said and Alistair said again

"everything Diana has written down is in a safe location, I will bring it to you"

"thank you Adam and-" but before Perseus could say anything the lady in the potrait spoke again .

"Lord Black , there is a messenger with some news"

"Let him in" Arcturus said

The messenger entered and addressed the lord Black

"My lord I have some disturbing news, just about an hour ago, a thunderbird was spotted in the forest around Romania. it unleashed massive storms, and caused a lot of destruction .We are to believe that it is the same thunderbird that attacked Hogwarts this morning ."

"Very well, you may take your leave Roy" Arcturus Black said as the messenger left

"It's really curious that a magical creature that was lost to time and considered to be extinct would come out in open like this" Alistair said

"But more curious are its movements "Arcturus said

"What do you mean by that" Perseus asked and Arcturus replied

"Well first Hogwarts, then Romania, it looks like the thunderbird is looking for someone and is somehow able to track its prey's movement"

"Who do you think it is tracking" Arcturus asked as Perseus and Adamastos shared a look, recognizing the pattern in the thunderbird's target .

"Me" Perseus replied

"But why" Adamastos and Arcturus asked at the same time but Perseus didn't replied he just held his wand and looked at it in wonder

"The core of your wand has something to with thunderbird, isn't it" Adamastos asked which caused Arcturus to look at Perseus's wand in wonder and then he said

"That means, its next target would be"

But before anyone could say anything The light of the morning sun that had been streaming in through window suddenly dimmed, as if someone had put a tarp over it. High in the sky above the City of Oceania, something moved. Wisps of white sped through the sky so quickly that Perseus could follow their path as they streaked by each other. In the distance, vast cloudbanks approached like floating mountain ranges. The wind chilled noticeably, and Perseus shivered at the bizarre sensation as the air rushed in. It felt strange, fluid, even tingly on his skin.

"It's here "Perseus said

"Won't the wards of Oceania be able to keep it at bay" Alistair asked

"I don't think so, even the wards of Hogwarts couldn't stop him " Arcturus said as they made their way towards the massive balcony and what they saw shocked them

Perseus gulped as roiling clouds coalesced into a massive bank of seething rage; tendrils of twisting wind lanced down towards the ground, lightning crackling between the small tornadoes as the rain picked up. Thunder echoed through the sky, and a sudden bolt of lightning impacted a few kilometres away, only a portent.

And Perseus then looked at Adamastos and was surprised by the look in the elder vampire's eyes.

Fear

Then Perseus looked closely and he could barely make out the shape of the cause of all this chaos. the beast had merged well with the clouds, clouds were forming wherever it went and lightning was leaving its body and that lightning was striking the city below.

And suddenly, out of nowhere three massive tornadoes had built up along with 4 maelstroms in the sea.

Perseus knew at that moment what he had to do. He knew the thunderbird was here because of him and was seeking him out. He dashed out of the royal castle and made his way towards the city. The destruction caused was massive, within moments the entire city of Oceania was reduced to ruins. And it was then that a screech echoed and Perseus fell to his knees in fear. For the first time in so many years , fear gripped his heart.

He looked around him, the coliseum was destroyed, The market place was ablaze in fire. The people had taken shelter under the ruins of the buildings. And they were all frightened. The soldiers were firing in the sky but it bore no result. As powerful as the soldiers of Oceania were, but this instant they were facing an opponent way out of there league.

Slowly, Perseus stood, staring up into the sky. He could hear its cries, now, cutting through the storm – sharp and piercing, in between the low rumbles of thunder. He raised his wand – a simple burst of light, would guide it to him.

The huge Thunderbird that swooped down from the dark clouds was magnificent, easily thrice the size of a thestral, and covered head to toe in bright feathers, almost white. It landed with slow flaps, flashes of lightning crackling over its wings, never darting away from them. Two curled horns stood out from its crown, and its long beak was filled with razor-sharp teeth; it was a male, Perseus guessed.

Its body was glowing with an eerie blue glow which gave him a majestic aura. Its large Black eyes looked at Perseus as if assessing his worth. It was then that suddenly a bit of lightening gathered between the tips of its horns and Perseus realized what was going to happen.

But he couldn't act and suddenly a massive bolt of lightning raced towards him and just as it was about to impact him something intercepted the bolt.

Adamastos had intercepted the bolt and was lying on the ground, unconscious. It was enough to get Perseus out of his stupor. Perseus summoned his sword.

The moment the stygian iron blade appeared the temperature dropped even further. Perseus was expecting that the thunderbird would be afraid of the stygian iron blade. But apparently it was not so, as just then came another bolt of lightning and Perseus raised his sword to intercept it.

What happened next shocked him, his sword, which was considered by Silas as the best sword he had ever seen; it shattered into pieces. Now this angered Perseus. In his rage he pulled out his wand and conjured a fire whip and madly slashed it at the thunderbird. But the fire whip fizzled out just as it made contact with the beast. But that was not the end of Perseus's rage and he yelled

" _crucio_ "

A bolt of red light sailed towards the thunderbird but it didn't yield the desired result, Perseus could see that it was about to fire another bolt of lightening and Perseus readied himself and yelled

" _Magna Tonitrus"_

The two bolts of lightening collided in the middle and Perseus's wand was vibrating violently but he held tight. And it was then that Perseus realized what it was all about.

It was a battle of will. The thunderbird was assessing whether he was worthy of using it's feather as his wand's core or not. And Perseus was determined to prove his dominance in the battle of will. He utilized every ounce of power he had and poured it into his spell,

The two massive bold of lightening grew in intensity , and just as both the attacks reached their maximum, both the lightening bolts vanished. Perseus looked at the thunderbird in amazement and was standing just by his sheer will.

And then the storm died down, the clouds parted and sunlight graced the city. The thunderbird took flight and midair it shrank and became the size of an overgrown turkey and flew towards him. Perseus raised his right arm and it landed on his arm.

Perseus looked at the powerful avian perched on his hand and stared into its eyes. And then said

"Thank you"

The thunderbird cried out again but instead of unleashing an aura and spreading a feeling of fear, that screech somehow made him feel rejuvenated.

People who had taken shelter in the ruins of the buildings started coming out in open and one by one they went on their knees and bowed to Perseus . When one of them said in a loud voice.

"All hail Prince Perseus Aeries Black, the lord of storms ."

And they all started chanting his name.

* * *

Lily potter smiled softly as she helped Andromeda in the kitchen. Andromeda has thrown a surprise party for iris on her first birthday. Only a few guests were invited, the longbottoms, remus, Amelia and Minerva.

She had gotten to know about the attack of a thunderbird on Hogwarts and was as surprised as everyone when she got to know what had transpired in the morning. Even Albus Dumbledore , one of the strongest wizard in Europe could not defeat it and was knocked out. He had gained consciousness after four hours.

She was extremely glad that James was fine. She was indeed happy to celebrate her daughter's birthday but a part of her was sad that Perseus was not a part of this celebration. He had not even written her back.

She then took a glass of butterbear and handed it to McGonagall and said

"Are you all right Minerva?"

"Yeah, just a bit shaken up" she replied as she took a sip of her drink

"We all are" Lily said

"Yeah I have never felt so afraid and so weak in my entire life, it was terrifying , it was like looking at destruction and power personified . And it's screech, it was terrible" Amelia said with a shudder as she joined in just when the floo flared up and Kingsley Shakelbolt stepped out. He moved and the troubled look on his face worried Lily.

"What happened kingsley, why are you so tense" Amelia asked just as James, Remus , Nymphadora and Augusta gathered around

Kingsley looked around for a moment and then looked at Amelia and said

"It is very troubling news boss"

"Just say it shack" James said and after a moment he said

"The thunderbird that attacked Hogwarts this morning and Romania some time later, it had also attacked the city of Oceania, the entire city is in ruins"

A gasp left lily and she could help but think of Perseus the moment Oceania was mentioned

'I hope Perseus was not there' she thought to herself but Tonks destroyed her hopes when she said

"Oh Merlin, Perseus is in Oceania, is there any news about him, is he all right" she asked in genuine worry

"And what about Arcturus , is he all right" Andromeda asked

"Yes they are fine, and the people of Oceania are grateful that Black was there" kingsley said and upon receiving confused looks from every one he elaborated

"Perseus Black has defeated that thunderbird but that is not all, the rumors are that he has even tamed that beast, they are calling him the Black Prince , the lord of storms"

"Amazing" Andromeda said," three dozen aurrors along with the staff of Hogwarts with Dumbledore as the spearhead could not defeat it and Perseus was able to not only defeat it but also tame it., I must say he is an extremely powerful wizard"

Lily potter could not help but feel proud of Perseus .

'My son is making a name for himself' she thought to herself

* * *

"so, Perseus you called for me" Adamastos asked as he entered Perseus's chambers or one of the only room which could still be used after Zeus's attack . Perseus stood against the window, his back towards Alistair. Perseus didn't turn to greet Adamastos, after a few seconds he just said.

"Yes, Adam, there is something I have to tell you, but before that ,did you get what I asked for?"

"Yes " he replied. It was then that Perseus turned and faced Adamastos and Perseus's condition shocked him. It was like Perseus has not slept for days, blood red eyes, untidy hair, he was wearing a pajama and a shirt only. Perseus was about to say something but Adamastos beat him to it.

"When was the last time you slept "

"My sleeping schedule is not what I wanted to talk about when I called for you Adamastos "Perseus replied, evading his question

"Yes but, you have locked yourself in your chambers for a month now, studying Diana's work, Perseus everyone is worried , specially your grandfather, " he said

"Yes I know, but it's too exciting, I mean Diana's knowledge of magic was enormous, and I have learnt more magic in these four weeks than I had in my entire life and the knowledge Diana had about nullifiers , I would never have discovered it on my own " Perseus said and that was saying something since Perseus considered his knowledge of magic vast since he had Voldemort's knowledge and has also learn a lot from his grandfather .

"But that doesn't mean you can ignore your health Perseus, "

"aah don't worry about, even regularly I would need to sleep for maximum four hours, so what if I didn't sleep properly for a month, it was worth it " Perseus said and before Adamastos could say anything he continued

"Anyway the reason I called you here is to discuss about a very serious matter"Perseus said in a grave tone and Adamastos must have recognized his tone for his expression too turned serious. Perseus then motioned for Adamastos to take a seat which he did.

He then handed Perseus a vial of clear liquid . Phoenix tears. Perseus needed it for a task and Adamastos had told him on enquiry that he had a vial of it. Adamastos then handed Perseus a letter, which Perseus took with surprise

"This just came in the mail " he added

The envelop had the seal of the house of Angelis.

'A letter from Helena ' Perseus thought and opened the envelop and read the contents of the letter and then kept it aside and said

"I have been invited to the birthday party of Princess Helena "

"So will you be going" Adamastos asked to which Perseus replied

"No"

"Why "Adamastos asked

"Our families have a history, bad blood. Besides I don't have time" Perseus replied and then asked him again in a serious tone

"Tell me Adam how much of Diana's work have you studied "Perseus asked as he too sat down in the armchair facing him.

"well not much, I mean I was her apprentice and I was about halfway through my course of education, I had started studying her work, in hopes of finding a way to somehow do magic again and when I realized that I won't be able to achieve that, I then looked for a way to reverse my transformation and become a wizard again, but it was also another dead end. So I gave up. I have just studying the art of potion making over the years and I am proud to say I am quite good at it."

Perseus listened to Adamastos intently and then raised his hand and a moment later something zoomed in his hand which Perseus caught instinctively, Adamastos looked at Perseus in wonder but looked at the thing in Perseus's hand in even more amazement and then said

"Diana's personal journal "

"Yes, off all of the work of Diana, I read this first, and I am glad I did for otherwise I would not have been able to go through all of her work in such small amount of time"

"Adamastos looked at Perseus with his mouth literally open and eyes wide in surprise , he then asked him in a barely audible whisper

"You went through everything , her entire life's work in just four weeks,"

Seeing Perseus give a nod, Adamastos just gaped and said

"Simply brilliant "

"Anyway" Perseus said," have you read this journal"

"Diana was like a motherly figure , my mentor "Adamastos said as a warm smile came across his face and then continued "and after her death I didn't have the courage to rummage through her private life , I guess at that time I still had some humanity left in me"

Perseus listened to him intently and pondered over his next move

"Why, what did you find in there "Adamastos asked

'Should I withhold it from him and let him live a lie or should I tell him the truth and ruin Diana's image in his mind' Perseus thought to himself

"This would be hard for you my friend, but Diana's intention towards you were not as bonafide as she let you believe,"Perseus said as Adamastos looked at him with confusion and aid

"What are you saying, I don't understand "

"I think it's best if I start from the beginning "Perseus said and paused for a moment and took a deep breath and the began again

"It wasn't Udona's plan to create werewolves; it was Diana who persuaded her to do so after Udona regaled the tales of those shapeshifters to her. But unfortunately Udona couldn't exactly replicate and create those shapeshifters, as we know; the result was , well, werewolves. You with me so far?"

"Yeah" Adamastos said slowly and then Perseus continued speaking.

"After the failed attempt to create shapeshifters, Udana and Diana tried to help those werewolves, she created a potion that if taken before the full moon will stop the transformation and-"

"That's not possible, I have never heard of such a potion, and even if there was such potion how did it stop the transformation" Adamastos interrupted

"off course you haven't heard of it, and as for your second question , the potion would put the wizard to sleep and along with the wizard the wolf within would also go to slumber , and it was successful too, but Diana had other plans in mind and so she wiped the knowledge of that potion from Udona's mind, and as a result werewolves started terrorizing the villages ."

"She then went on to create vampires, initially she intended to turn only one into a vampire; Aaron, she had other plans for you. Because creating vampires to combat those werewolves was not her aim.

"And do tell what was her aim"

"To gain power, enormous power "Perseus said and then stood up and motioned Adamastos to do the same and said

"Come with me, I will show you"

They both went to Perseus's study, the whole room was covered with parchments , there were runic diagrams on the boards, Perseus pulled one such board towards them and said

"She had a ritual that would grant her enormous strength, this ritual was not created by her, and it was a family secret. The ritual was created by none other than an Olympian witch, "

"I still don't understand Perseus, how-"

"You will, but first tell me what do you know about the elves"

"Well they are magically quite powerful but are subservient to the wizards "Adamastos said and looked at Perseus who was now shaking his head and continued speaking

"And I believe you are not talking about the house elves, but the elves, right?"

"yes "Perseus said with a nod.

"well they were powerful magical creatures, Diana would often regale us with their powers, they were amazing user of elemental magic, were extremely fast and strong but the most important skill they possessed was the one of forging magical items, weapons, armours, buildings and other things ."

"The elves later shared their knowledge with goblins and the dwarfs , but they didn't teach them everything, "

"ok, and what about Diana's ancestry?"he asked the elder vampire

"Well Diana had always claimed that her family were the descendants of Hestia, who the muggles of that time considered as the goddess of magic, she said that when the Olympians fought against the titans, they lacked the proper weapons to do so, since the titans possessed weapons made by the elves."

Here Adamastos gave a small pause and a troubled look crossed his face and he looked around the various parchments in the room and then said again

"The Olympians then approached Hephaestus to forge weapons for them, who asked Hestia to aid him in the process. Hestia agreed to do so but she posed a condition of her own . The Olympians who needed a weapon would have to teach her every magic they knew in return for a weapon.

Perseus said as he showed a ritual diagrams on a board to Adamastos and then said again, explaining the ritual

"this ritual is what Diana wanted to perform, for that she needed a physically powerful being with astounding metabolism, next she needed the combined magic of 13 wizards and lastly she need to sacrifice a truly immortal being but that was not all, for her to be capable of doing this ritual she was required to have the essence of two opposite magical thing in her bloodstream in perfect equilibrium."

Looking at Adamastos's confused look Perseus decided to clarify everything

"the powerful being was an elf, but since the elves were long gone by then, Diana searched for replacements, when she got to know about those shapeshifters , she thought she'd found one but unfortunately she and Udona couldn't replicate and create those shapeshifters . She then decided to create a replacement of her own and thus she created the vampires, she only wanted to turn Aaron and use him in her ritual of telikos"

"The second requisite of the ritual, one of the truly immortal being is a phoenix and two opposite magical material in her bloodstream had to be the phoenix tears and the basilisk's venom and lastly, the combined magic of 13 wizards, that would be"

"Me" Adamastos said and then continued to speak with a look of terror on his face

"a siphooner, only a siphoner can have the magic of thirteen wizards at once . "

After saying it he looked at Perseus for affirmation to which Perseus gave a sad sigh and then nodded , and said

"You are right but when Diana realized that she won't be able to perform that ritual because she didn't have a phoenix who would sacrifice itself, She dropped the idea because by that time Udona had turned completely against Diana and as such Diana decided to end Udona first and turned the three of you into vampires ." Perseus finished

"But why , I mean yes Diana like any other witch or wizard craved power but she was already very powerful ,what reason could she possibly have to perform that ritual "Adamastos asked

"you have already given the answer to that question" Perseus said which confused Adamastos even more but after a moment he must have realized it as he looked at Perseus in amazement and said

"Hestia's grimoire, "

"Indeed, she wanted Hestia's grimoire, the power of the gods, but that grimoire is hidden in a cave under the Agean sea , she had found the cave but it was protected by extremely powerful magic and to break through those wards she had to perform the ritual of telikos ."

"How did Diana know about the ritual of Telikos" Adamastos asked as he took his seat again.

"There is a story behind it too, you see Hestia and heaphastus had crafted a mace for Aries, but Aries was not able to lift that mace, well no one could. And as such to aid him , Hestia designed a ritual, that ritual then granted Aries immense physical strength and also amplified his magic"

There was a tense silence for a moment which was broken when Adamastos asked

"So you wish to perform the ritual of Telikos and then get the grimoire?"

"No, I don't have to perform the ritual of telikos, at least not yet, but yes , I do want Hestia's grimoire "

"Without performing the ritual, how would you break those wards? I know you are a powerful wizard Perseus but your magic is still growing" Adamastos asked in wonder

"Well it won't be me who would break those wards " Perseus said

"Then who would?"

"The one who got pass the wards of Hogwarts and Oceania as if they were not even there " Perseus replied and gave a confident smile just as thunder rumbled outside and Zeus, the thunderbird flew inside and the magnificent bird perched upon one of the boards.

Despite it being a month since the thunderbird had attacked Oceania, the elder vampire still felt small in front of this creature. The thunderbird had after all leveled the entire city of Oceania within minutes.

'One of its lightening attack rendered me unconscious for two hours, not even the killing curse effects me in such a way' Alistair thought and then said

"very well then, we will go but provided that you sleep properly "Adamastos said

* * *

"So are you ready "Perseus asked as he met Adamastos and his grandfather in the garden , which was now in ruins

"Are you sure that is wise Perseus, to go alone, take some soldiers with you" Arcturus Black said

"I won't be alone grandfather, Adamastos is with me, besides you need as much men in Oceania as you can. I will be back soon, take care"

"How would you go to Greece, I could not procure a portkey for you at such short notice"

"Doesn't worry, Zeus has agreed to give us a ride "Perseus said and gave a mischievous smile and put his hand on Adamastos's shoulder while Arctrus Black looked puzzled. In an instant they heard the screech of Zeus who was flying towards them. He then made a steep dive and landed on Perseus's shoulder and that very instant a bolt of lightening hit them and they vanished leaving behind a scrotch marks on the ground

Far away in the Agean sea, lay a small island , a bolt of lightening struck the ground and after a moment two figures emerged from the smoke and Zeus again took flight. While Perseus and Adamastos made their way towards the cave

it took them an hour but finally they found the cave . Perseus and Adamastos stood mere inches from the doorway of the cave. Perseus could sense the powerful wards protecting it. And that very instant Zeus, glowing with a bluish aura flew past them and through the entrance and they both heard a loud crashing noise .

"The wards are down" Perseus said and then moved inside and Adamastos followed him. Upon entering Perseus waved his wand and eight balls of lightening emerged and lightened up the place. And What they saw shocked them. Perseus was expecting to find an old dusty cave but what he saw amazed him.

They stood in amidst a pool of treasure, precious gems , diamonds and golden coins.. Perseus then looked for Zeus who was perched upon what looked like a tomb of sorts. Perseus approached the tomb and inspected it.

"What is it" Adamastos asked as he looked at the tomb, it was covered by a heavy stone slab. Perseus raised his wand and extended his magic and tried to move the stone slab. But to no avail.

"It won't move, I sense a type of stasis charm over this tomb" Perseus said

"Let me give it a try" Adamastos said and he started pushing the slab and it moved a bit. Adamastos gave it another try but before he could move it any further the slab was pushed from inside and Perseus and Adamastos backed off in surprise.

A lone figure emerged from the tomb. He was dressed in green and brown garb. He had an angular pale face and silky brown hair. But what caught Perseus attention were his eyes. perfect almond shape and blue galaxy eyes looked at Perseus in wonder. It was then that Perseus's sight fell on his ears ;They were slightly pointy . And Perseus knew who was standing in front of him .

An ELF.

But before Perseus could say a word the elf lounged at Perseus with breathtaking speed and he would have collided with Perseus too but he was blocked by Adamastos who then pushed the elf back. The power that the two ancient beings possessed must have surprised them both for they looked at each other in wonder.

The elf then said something in a language unknown to Perseus . but surprisingly Adamastos seemed to understand what he was saying. They conversed back and forth for a few moments and then Adamastos turned towards Perseus and said

"Elves possess an ability of learning any language within moments just by touch and he wishes to eliminate the communication barrier between us by learning English from me"

To which Perseus just nodded and Adamastos approached the elf , who took the vampire's hand in his own and closed his eyes in concentration , after a moment he opened his eyes and let go of his hand and looked at Perseus and said

"I apologize for attacking you but you see, someone else was suppose to wake me up and your presence startled me"

His tone was soft and he spoke each word as if testing how it rolled of his tongue . Perseus said to him then

"It is fine, and trust me an elf was the last thing we expected to find in this cave"

And after a short awkward pause Perseus asked him again

"What is your name?"

To which the elf replied

"Ellas"

"Nice to meet you Ellas, my name is Perseus and the one who blocked your attack , his name is Adamastos" Perseus said the elf then turned and looked at Adamastos in wonder and said

"Who are you, you are not an elf yet you posses the agility and strength that exceeds even ours, then what are you"

"I am a vampire" Adamastos replied

"A vampire, I have travelled across the world but I have never heard of your kind before " Ellas said in confusion

"That is because vampires came forth a millennia after the extinction of your kind, my kind were fashioned after elves "Adamastos replied

"A millennia" Ellas said in wonder and then asked in a small voice

"How long has it been since the extinction of my kind?"

"Well the war between the Olympians and the titans occurred about twenty five hundred years ago , and correct me if I am wrong but it was around that time that elves got extinct, " Adamastos answered

"Yes" was the only thing he said

"But why were you in the tomb, and in this cave" Perseus asked him

A dark look came across the elf's face and suddenly he looked broken and alone. Perseus conjured three armchairs and motioned for the elf to take a seat. Ellas , after a few moments spoke up.

"In the war between titans and the Olympians , the elves were on the side of the titans, we made weapons for them with which they could easily overpower the young Olympians. The dwarves and the goblins too took sides in this conflict. The Olympians then approached Hephaestus too craft weapons for them. You see" here he glanced at Perseus and then said again

"Hephaestus was the only one in the history who had learned under an elf ; my own grandfather . Yes the elves had taught dwarves and goblins but they didn't teach them everything. But my grandfather taught Hephaestus every art of magic known to elves. After the war had ended the Olympians went on to destroy the elves for they had made the weapons of the titans and they wished to eliminate such a threat. With the mighty weapons at their disposal they wiped the elves from the face of this planet. My family died too and I got injured."

Here he lifted his robes a bit to reveal a cut, probably from a very lethal weapon, it was a curse and it was spreading and he spoke again

"But I was saved by Hephaestus but he could not heal my injury but he said he needed some time to find a way to heal me, but I didn't have much time, hours at most and such he made this tomb within which I was put under a stasis magic , I guess he didn't find the cure."

Perseus couldn't help but feel pity for the ancient being in front of him, but then suddenly an idea struck him.

"I can heal you " Perseus said which surprised the two immortals .

"How" asked the elf in desperation

In response Perseus just pulled out a vial of crystal clear liquid and showed it to him.

"Phoenix's tears" he said which caused the elf to look at him in surprise.

"You would part with such a valuable item just to save my life" he asked in a broken voice. To which Perseus replied with a smile and said

"Yes"

"But Perseus, you had planned to use it to perform the ritual of Telikos , without phoenix's tears you cannot perform that ritual "Adamastos told him which caused the elf to look at Perseus with even more amazement .

"I know Adam, and I would gladly give away my chance of gaining power if it means saving someone's life" Perseus said as he looked at Ellas intently and Perseus was surprised to notice tears in the elf's eyes Perseus then handed the vial to the elf who poured the liquid in his wounds which healed within moments

"How would I ever repay you" Ellas asked as he stood up again .

"you don't have to , I did what any other man would have done in my place" Perseus replied intentionally ignoring the disapproving look from the ancient vampire.

"No, no other wizard would have done what you did, I have known wizards who were regarded as gods and titans by the mundane humans but I have never come across a wizard like you." He said and stood up , and Perseus followed suite .

"you saved my life then it is only fair that I repay you by devoting my life in your service " Ellas said and didn't wait for Perseus to reply , he raised his arms and started chanting in a language Perseus didn't understand and suddenly thick ropes of fire emerged and wrapped itself around the elf who then said

"I , Ellas Grenhar, with fire as the binding swear my life, my loyalty to Perseus Aries Black. I will serve him and his family throughout my entire immortal life. I accept Perseus Black as my master, do you accept me as your servant"

Perseus gave a very uncertain look but inside he was cheering on the inside for this is the outcome he was hoping for when he had offered phoenix tears to the ancient being

"I accept E+llas as my bonded servant "Perseus said and the fire that was wrapped around Ellas suddenly rushed towards him and vanished upon impact. It took Perseus a few minutes to recover from everything after which he asked Ellas

"But tell me one thing Ellas, what kind of weapon could that be , whose one slash was lethal to even the immortal elves "

A dark look came across his face, he then said in a very wise tone

"The strongest kind of weapon, it's ironic really the knowledge of elves due to which the weapons of Olympians were forged, those very weapons were used to destroy our kind. It was thanatos who delivered that blow upon me. Thanatos's scepter was an extremely lethal weapon, made of stygian iron and even slightest of its cut was lethal. "

"The Olympians were losing in the war, and so they approached Hephaestus to forge weapons for them, who asked Hestia to aid him in the process. Hestia agreed to do so but she posed a condition of her own. The Olympians who needed a weapon would have to teach her every magic they knew in return for a weapon."

He then moved towards the tomb he had inhabited for the last two millennia and from within took something out and handed it to Perseus who exclaimed

"Hestia's grimoire"

"The knowledge of the gods" he said and then said again

"You gave up your chance at gaining immense power to save my life and in return I will aid you in your quest of becoming the strongest wizard in the world."

He then moved towards one of the raised platform and waved his hand and light fell upon it where a chest was placed. He opened the chest and from it took out a long sword

Perseus easily recognized that it was a stygian iron sword and for some reason he knew that this sword was way better than his own blade which was destroyed by Zeus.

He held the sword in his hands and offered it to Perseus and said

"Hades taught Hestia the darkest of shadow magic, necromancy and soul magic, they gave him in return a sword made of stygian iron, one cut from that sword and the sword could literally suck the life force out of his victims body. It was the only weapon that was even more lethal than Thanatos's scepter which is why Thanatos never seeked out a fight with Hades"

Perseus took the sword, its length equal to his height. He was able to hold it but it would take some years for him to be capable of wielding that sword. Perseus said in a soft tone

"I had a stygian iron blade too, but it was unfortunately not as strong as stygian iron blades are said to be" Perseus said and upon noticing his questioning look he elaborated.

"Zeus" he said indicating towards the thunderbird who sat at the pillar," His one powerful attack shattered my sword into pieces "

"I assure you, this sword can withstand anything" Ellas said and as if trying to back up his claim he said

"Perhaps a demonstration would assure you, if only your familiar would comply with it"

Perseus looked at the thunderbird who just nodded at the wizard and soon electricity gathered between its crown and a strong bolt of lightening raced towards him and Perseus raised the sword to intercept the bolt , expecting another blade to shatter in his hands. But what happened surprised him, the lightning bolt vanished the moment it touched the stygian iron blade.

"Amazing " Perseus said just as Ellas handed him a ring, which appeared to be made of gold with an onyx stone and said

"Wear this ring and you can summon this sword whenever you wish to"

And Perseus wore that ring while Ellas took out something else from the chest. It was a helm which appeared to be made of gold

"Helm of darkness and terror" he said and then continued speaking

"You see Perseus while the stygian iron blade was a powerful weapon; it was nowhere near destructive as Zeus's masterbolt. So he asked them to forge another weapon that would help him in case Zeus trained his thunderbolt at him. To coerce Hestia and Hephaestus he taught them the art of shadow traveling and the mist flight which he had learnt from Erebus himself. And so the crafted for Hades the helm of darkness that would provide Hades with the ultimate for of invisibility . Whenever Hades rode in the battlefield wearing this helm, his enemies would drop their weapons and run in fear, even the strongest of titans were unable to fight the power of this helm, except Helios that is"

He finished speaking and placed the helm over Perseus's head which vanished immediately and took the form of an earring in Perseus's left ear.

Perseus then willed the helm to come forth and the earring changed again into a helm. Ellas then motioned for Perseus to follow him as he made his was towards the other side of the cave and opened another chest and said

"Zeus taught Hestia everything about the magic of lightening , storms and in return Hestia and hephastus forged for him the most destructive weapon ever made; his masterbolt. , it was extremely powerful weapon, with it in his hands Zeus could fight any army alone and emerge victorious . He had leveled many cities and mountains with his masterbolt. And today Perseus I hand over that weapon to you"

And he took out a long seven foot long staff, which appeared to be made of bone. He handed the long staff to Perseus who looked at it with a look of disbelief

"Are you telling me that this thin piece of stick is the most powerful weapon ever made, it looks like it will snap in half any moment. " Perseus asked scathingly and Ellas just laughed in reply he then said

"Please pardon my reaction, but I couldn't help but draw similarity between yours and Zeus's reaction when he held the bolt for the first time, you must be thinking that this is just a thin stick but let me tell you this is forged from the bones of the kraken . It's just that you need to kick start it for Zeus drained it of its energy before he placed it here"

"And how do I 'kick start' it"Perseus said

"My lord you are forgetting that these weapons are just magical foci, the thunderbot is like any other staff only difference being with a staff you can put it to different uses but in the case of this weapon, you can only manipulate lightening and weather."

"I think I understand now, it's a foci too just that it is only meant for one branch of magic" Perseus said

"Exactly, you cannot use it for day-to-day chores, it is only meant for destruction and to be used only in wars" Ellas replied to which Perseus nodded but said after sometime

"So to activate it a lot of electricity will have to be passed through it"

"Yes and perhaps your powerful familiar can aid you in this process" Ellas said and Perseus looked at the thunderbird who sent a massive lightning bolt which struck the masterbolt. But the lightening did not stop, it kept flowing from Zeus to the thunderbolt for a full one minute.

When it did stop, Perseus was holding what now looked like the most badass weapon one can see. The bolt was surrounded by a blue glow and lightening crackled around it. Ellas then handed Perseus another ring which Perseus assumed was for summoning the masterbolt.

"Another ring " Perseus said

"Yes, you can summon the lightning bolt anywhere with this ring" as Perseus put the ring on his left hand. Ellas moved towards the centre of the cave, around his tomb and stoob beside something covered by a piece of cloth.

"the last weapon in this cave" Ellas said as he removed the cloth and revealed to them the most amazing and massive mace Perseus has ever seen and it appeared to be made of gold. It was a blunt mace , it consisted of a huge spherical head mounted on a shaft, with a spike on the top.

"Aries, he imparted with the vast knowledge of battle magic and got this mace in return, it was made entirely of adamantium and coated with celestial gold and imbued with enchantments and ruins and as a result the mace was so heavy that Aries was unable to lift it let alone use it . Aries considered that as a cheating on their part." Here he gave a soft chuckle and then said again

"And so Hestia created a ritual that would grant Aries with immense physical power as well as increase his magical powerless multifold, after which Aries could easily use the mace. And yes my lord it is what you know as the ritual of Telikos and I am saddened to say that you won't be able to lift it without performing that ritual " Ellas said as he lowered his head .

"Do not worry my friend, so what if I lost my chance at power, I have gained a friend like yours, I consider it great bargain" Perseus said and then asked suddenly

"But tell me something, elves were very powerful beings, could you lift this mace"

"No, even elves with their superior strength could not lift it," Ellas replied then he looked at Adamastos and said

"But I wonder if friend Adamastos would be able to lift it, for he posses strength and agility greater than elves"

Both of then turned towards Adamastos with an expectant look after which the elder vampire said

"I can give it a try"

And he proceeded to lift the mace my holding it in one hand, but it didn't move even by an inch, he then used both his hands to lift the mace and could only lift it for a second and only an inch above the ground after which he let go off the mace and collapsed on the ground.

Perseus then helped him to his feet and guided him to his chair where a panting vampire rested and it took him around a minutes to recompose himself. Then Perseus proceeded to ask Ellas

"What are your plans now, what would you do"

"I do not know my lord, I have no aim right now and I was hoping you would help me out there "he replied

"Off course, I can offer you a place in Oceania" " Perseus said and upon seeing his confused look, Perseus elaborated

"My grandsire, Arcturus Black is the ruler of the nation; Oceania"

"You are a prince" Ellas exclaimed to which Adamastos gave a slight chuckle

"No, not really, my grandfather never assumed the mantle of the king, so technically I am not the prince of Oceania" Perseus said

"Oh, well I would be grateful to you for this offer" Ellas replied

"Ahh don't be too hasty, I doubt you would like to stay in the state which Oceania is right now" Perseus said

"What do you mean by that?"

"Recently Oceania had encountered massive destruction" Perseus said

"What Happened?"

"I'd rather show you then tell you" Perseus said and motioned Alistair who stood up and took out a portkey from his robes; a piece of rope . all three of the got hold of it when Perseus asked Ellas

"Have you ever travelled via portkey"

"No, I have never heard of it"he replied

"The portkeys were invented a millennia after his time" Adamastos supplied

"ohh well have you any experience with instant form of traveling " Perseus asked Ellas

"No, only very few wizards could do that, only a handful of wizards could use elements to travel from one place to another "Ellas said and Perseus couldn't help but think of the way thunderbird and phoenix travel.

"Well get ready for your first portkey ride" Perseus said and then he looked at Zeus and said

"See you in oceania mate"

He then said the activation phrase and the three of the vanished from the cave and arrived in Oceania . The site that greeted him surprised Ellas. All around him he only saw destruction, people were living in tents and soldiers were roaming everywhere.

" it looks like Poseidon has unleashed his wrath upon this city , who did this, who can cause this much destruction" Ellas asked

"My familiar" was the only reply he got from Perseus. Perseus then told Ellas everything about the attack and how it ended. Just then a soldier approached them and addressed Perseus

"Master Black, Lord Black has been alerted of your arrival and he is waiting for you and you companion in his tent, he is in a meeting with the leader of the goblin nation and some wizards "

Perseus nodded and Ellas asked him .

"Why is he meeting with the goblins"

"Probably to give them a contract to rebuild the city" Adamastos replied and Perseus agreed with his reasoning but just then Ellas spoke up

"no no Perseus , the goblins have extremely weird rules about the things they make, and if they were to build this city they would claim right over it if your grandfather were to die"

"He is right Perseus "Adamastos said

"yeah, I am aware of this law" Perseus said, "but we need to rebuild the city and goblins are the only one who can do it"

"That is not true" Ellas said which caused both Perseus and Adamastos to give him questioning look and then Ellas said

"I mean, why not contact the dwarfs , they are way better at building structures , after all the dwarfs built the magnificent city of Asgard , plus they are easy to deal with unlike those ungrateful goblins who turned their backs on the very people who taught them everything "

"you are right, dwarfs are great craftsmen but what you do not know Is that after the last war between the goblins and the dwarves, the dwarves went into hiding and no one other than the goblins know how to reach them" Adamastos said which surprised the elf

"Hold on a second" Perseus said and looked at Ellas

"What if I were to obtain a way to contact the dwarfs, do you think they will help us out" he asked

"Yes, I assure you, the dwarfs would never refuse an elf" Ellas said

"Very well then, lets go" Perseus said and was about to move when Adamastos said

"Wait, I don't think it is wise for Ellas to reveal himself to the world, I am sure the goblins would recognize him"

"What do you mean by that" Ellas asked and Adamastos explained

"To the wizarding world, your kind are ancient legend, and if word got out about you many curious people will be attracted and this could also attract someone whose intention is malafide and we can't have that right now, specially in the unguarded state that Oceania is"

"I see wisdom in your words friend Adamastos," Ellas said and surprising both Perseus and Adamastos he turned invisible. Well invisible to Adam . Perseus could still see him .

"ohh that's amazing and Adam wait outside the tent and come in when I call for you" Perseus said and walked towards Arcturus's tent. Followed by Adam and an invisible Ellas. He was about to enter the tent when he heard the voice of a goblin saying

"we will built this entire city for just 40 million galleons and permission to open a bank in oceania and monopoly in that field , do we have a deal lord Black"

Perseus could literally hear greed in his voice, which disgusted him

'They are taking advantage of my grandfather's helplessness " Perseus thought and this angered him and he marched inside the tent and said in gobbledygook

"No, there is no deal goblin"

The sudden entry of the Black hair surprised the goblin but brought a smile on Arcturus's face accompanied by a look of relief. Perseus saw that there were in total seven goblins Arcturus was accompanied by Tyler and Alistair. Tyler too looked relived to see Perseus.

"But why not, mister Black"

"Because I have a different deal for you " Perseus said and upon receiving confused looks he replied

"You see a friend of mine recently came in possession of the war axe of the goblin king, grimlock the third. Now I can persuade my friend to give it to you "

"That axe belongs to the goblins and you are bound by law to return it to us Mister Black" the goblin leader replied cutting him short

"But see that's the problem, it is not me, but someone I know who has the axe." Perseus said and gave a cheesy smile which infuriated the goblin

"Then tell your friend to return the axe to us"

"ohh I would but he wants something in return" Perseus said

"ohh so you are bargaining with us"

"no no, master goblin, I am just a mediator, it is my friend who wishes to bargain" Perseus said

"Who is this friend of yours, I wish to speak to him directly" the goblin said

"as you wish" Perseus said and then called out

"Adamastos"

And the elder vampire walked in, a mischievous look on his face , he greeted the vampire. Perseus noticed that Tyler's amusement turned into a look of wariness and uncertainty when his sight fell on the elder vampire.

If the goblins were surprised by the presence of Perseus , they were completely floored by the arrival of the elder vampire, the fear of the elder vampire was very deep within the goblins. The goblin composed himself then asked the vampire

"What is it you want in return for the axe Lord Adamastos"

"ohh nothing much, I just want you to get me in contact with the dwarfs " Adamastos said and in a moment understanding dawned upon the goblin. But greed too was evident in his eyes. In the end greed must have prevailed for the goblin said

"Very well, I will take you to the dwarfs tomorrow, now give me the axe"

"ohh I will, as soon as I meet the dwarfs , I will give you the axe" Alistair said .

"oh and what if you backstab me" the goblin said

"Out of both of us, who has the reputation of betraying" Alistair said which was enough to silence the goblin.

"Very well, we will be back tomorrow morning to take you to the dwarfs " he said and was about to leave when Alistair spoke up. His eyes turning red

"oh and goblin I hope for the sake of your race that you would not mislead us, for you wouldn't want a repeat of what happened four centuries ago"

The goblin gulped, fear settling in his eyes and he left. Perseus then greeted his grandfather who later asked him

"even if you were to meet the dwarfs my child, who is to say that they would listen to you ,after all they have been cut off from the rest of the world for so long"

"I know but they will listen to him" Perseus said just when Ellas once again became visible. Seeing the shocked look on his grandfather's face, Perseus began to explain who Ellas was but was surprised to hear Arcturus exclaim in a barely audible whisper

"Elf"

Ellas just gave a warm smile and Perseus asked

"How did you know that grandfather"

"I have heard many tales about the legendary elves from my master" he said and further explained to Ellas

"My master, my mentor is the descendant of Erebus himself "

"aah yes, the line of Erebus did survive, and they also acquired many weapons of the titans after their fall but then went incognito " Ellas said

"But I was under the impression that your kind went extinct " he asked to which Perseus , Alistair and Ellas told him everything . After telling them everything Arcturus said

"You all should rest now if we are to travel to meet the dwarfs tomorrow , I will have a camp set up for you Ellas"

And they were about to disperse when someone entered the tent, which surprised everyone and Perseus exclaimed

"Lelantos , what is it, did you find Alexander "

"No my lord, but I know where he was last seen" Lelantos replied

"Do tell"

"I have gathered that he went to Velos to learn the art of warfare from Busirius but he refused to teach him saying that he will not teach an orphan and someone of impure blood" Lelantos replied

This caused Perseus to boil with anger , at that point he wanted nothing more than to kill Busirius, but he composed himself and asked Lelantos

"Any news regarding his current whereabouts"

"No my lord, after his encounter with Busirius, he just vanished but the rumour is that before he left he swore to Busirius that he would return, and he would become stronger that Busirius and all of his students" Lelantos replied which caused Perseus to smile a bit, he then asked Lelantos

"Anything else?"

"Yes my lord, I have located Isabelle, she is still in Moria " Lelantos replied which surprised Perseus who just addressed them all in a tone which left no room for argue

"We are going to Moria, right now"

"Child that is not wise" said Arcturus Black with worry apparent in his tone and before Perseus could reply he continued

"The shadow king is as insane as he is power hungry , that man killed his own brother , venturing into his land is very dangerous "

And Perseus found the wisdom in his words , the nation of Moria was a very dangerous place , only place where muggle slavery as well as muggle hunting still prevailed . Ellas , not knowing what they were talking about asked

"I am not aware as to why this city has such a dreaded and fearsome reputation"

And it was Adam who answered his query

"There are many secrets buried in the land of Moria, it is the oldest magical settlement , the city was founded some years after my birth , about 14 centuries ago . It was colonized by some Egyptian clans . With them they brought their powerful and foreign magic, the wards of Moria are even older and more powerful than that of Hogwarts , but unlike Hogwarts they need not be changed or recharge . No one knows why but the wards have only grown stronger over the time. That city is the only nation where muggle slavery is still allowed and is even promoted and even ICW , with Dumbledore as the spearhead had not been able to do anything about it . They tried , fought many bloody wars , but it was all in vain , they couldn't even put a dent in those wards. But then Theokoles Became the king 2 decades ago by killing his half brother, the crown prince . He is a very powerful wizard , a shadow mage . Fed up with the constant wars with ICW the king took the war to the member nations, with random acts of violence and terrorism . Then he and ICW reached to an accord that they won't attack each other again."

The elder vampire finished speaking and Arcturus Black spoke up again

"Indeed, while his brother was a kind man, Theokoles is pure evil , he will not take kindly to your presence in his city Perseus"

"I will be fine grandfather, with Ellas and Adamastos with me, my safety is assured . And if things were to go south, Zeus will get us back . "Perseus said trying to pacify his grandfather and said again

"Grandfather, it is imperative that I find Alexander , he helped me out when I was at my lowest point . I have to find out what happened to him "this seemed to do the trick as Arcturus Black nodded in consent and said more to Adamastos and Alistair than to Perseus

"Get out of there at the first sign of trouble" to which they both nodded and then Lelantos said

"But there is one problem , how are we to gain entry to the city , I can get in but how will the others "

"How will you enter the city unnoticed " Perseus asked Lelantos to which Lelantos just chuckled and suddenly transformed into another wizard with a moustache in his mid fifties . Even his clothes had changed . Perseus looked at Adamastos for answers to which he said

"Lelantos was a metamorphagus before his transformation, and this is one ability that not only stayed with him but also manifested after his transformation "

"Fascinating " Ellas said

"Indeed, any other ability that you would like to share Lelantos " asked an amused Perseus . Lelantos looked at Adam , his sire who nodded and suddenly Lelantos changed into a dog .

"An animagus" Perseus said out loud but to prove his assumptions wrong , the dog then changed into a wolf, then a snake , then a lion, then a crow and then back to his normal self. Tyler then said

"So you have multiple animagus forms"

"No, I can change into any animal, not a magical animal though" Lelantos corrected him

"Impressive " Perseus said in awe and then cleared his mind and said again

"Now how are we to get inside cairo"

"It's very simple, use your helm , it will make you undetectable by the wards , I assure you "

"Very well then , I will go with Lelantos and Adamastos and Ellas" Perseus said to which Adam replied

"How am I to get in"

Perseus then took off his bracelet and gave it to Adamastos

"I don't need it anymore" he said as he indicated to the earring on his left ear. Adamastos put it on, understanding it's function and activated it and turning invisible to the world other than Perseus

"Did it not work" Perseus asked which caused Adamastos to look around him in wonder, he himself was extremely surprised for he was not using his powers he had obtained from the ritual of sight

"It worked extremely well, I can't see him or hear his breathing or heartbeat, I can't even smell him" Alistair said

"Then how can I see him" Perseus asked to which Ellas replied

"It's the power of the helm my lord, it will protect your mind and will allow you to see through every kind of trickery, illusion or invisibility "

"It's goblin made , that is for sure " Ellas said to which Perseus nodded as Adam turned visible again and said again," we will meet back in half an hour at the central square, or what's left of it."

To which everyone nodded and Perseus left the tent and Adamastos and Lelantos too left soon . Arcturus Black then looked at Tyler and asked

"Something on your mind child , perhaps comparing that bracelet with your ring"

To which Tyler just blushed and then said

"no my lord , I was just wondering if it is wise to let Master Black go with Adamastos" and before anyone could say anything he spoke again

"it's just whenever I am around that Adamastos , I get a weird feeling, my magic literally screams in alarm , my gut tells me to run far away from him and I get this sensation as if he is hunting me, which troubles me , my lord, I have never been afraid in my life, I am at loss as to why I am instinctively afraid of him"

Surprisingly it was Alistair who answered .

"And you are right to be afraid of him , he Is one of the strongest beings in this world. He has defeated many powerful foes , plus he cannot be killed . So no Tyler there is nothing wrong to be afraid of him ."

"Indeed" Ellas said and paused before speaking again

"His strength is almost equal to Aeries and in terms of speed and agility he is perhaps the superior most being . And despite his lack of magic, his immense immunity to magic and healing powers makes him a very formidable foe. And you need not worry about him harming lord Perseus . for I can sense the magic that binds him to lord Perseus . Adamastos is completely loyal to him . "

Everyone stood in silence for some moments before Ellas spoke up again

"What ring was lord Black was referring to "

To which Tyler just took out his pendant from underneath his robes and showed it to him . the pendant was holding a ring. A plain gold band. Ellas's eyed widened in recognition and Arcturus commented on it

"You recognize it?"

And Ellas just nodded and said

"Indeed it was the most prized possession of Hecate, she and my own brother forged it . It provides the wearer with complete protection of a cloaking charm , other than Perseus with his helm , no one will be able to see past it . it is called the ring of Evisque . "He paused and then asked in excitement

"So you are a descendant of Hecate"

"I am afraid, I do not know" Tyler said in a small voice and understanding dawned upon the elf who then said again

"know one thing child , there is something different about you , I sensed it the moment I laid my eyes on you"

"What did you sense?"

"Power, an ancient power just below the surface, it flows through you veins . but I see it clearly that it has been bound in chains , and not just recently , probably for over a millennia , when I return we will talk more about it" Ellas said and with that he bid everyone goodbye and left to meet the others .

unknown to everyone , Tyler's world was about to be turned upside down.

* * *

 **So guys , how was it. please review and keep reading.**

 **and please help me out with my beta-reader problem.**

 **now some questions that will be answered in the next chapter but you can always guess and write in the reviews .**

 **will Perseus go to Helena's party or not.?**

 **what will Isabelle tell them.?**

 **what will happen to Tyler ?**

 **and will they be spotted by anyone in Moria?**

 **thanks a lot for reading .**

 **bye**


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

 **AN-**

 **So here is the next chapter and I know I am updating it after a very very long time and I am extremely sorry for that . But I was extremely unwell and was in hospital for a long time too. And then I got busy with my exams and other college stuff. But fret not, I am back and will now update it regularly.**

 **Now to answer some questions from reviews and PM**

 **Many are saying that Perseus is too damn powerful for a 12 year old boy . _well this chapter will try to clear that point . He is not extremely powerful . Yes he has some advantages ;like nullifying powers which has increased due to Dorea black's and shaman's sacrifice, voldermort's knowledge. But that is it._**  
 _ **The rest of it is all acquired, be it shamanic knowledge or knowledge to craft wand or his skills with other weapons and martial arts. He worked hard to get better.**_

 _ **And he has to become more powerful , because there are many out there who are way ahead of him . you will see that soon enough . my tournament will make it clear that the triwizard tournament is like county series compared to the world cup (which is my tournament)**_

 **Some have complained about too many subplots and too many characters who are uber powerful. _To this I say , in the whole world of magic, I refuse to believe that only two or three wizards are extremely powerful(Voldemort, Grindelwald, Dumbledore) and that too from one origin. No I said it in the very beginning that this story will have a bigger and wider magical world. That means more characters who are extremely powerful._**

 **Don't worry it will remain harry-centric . I assure you. But that will begin from his third year when the BWL enters the story**

 **Next questions were about when this story will come parallel to cannon . _as I said from Perseus's third year. At the end of chamber of secrets it will take a dark turn for a while . but it is still some 4-5 chapters away . so don't worry_**

 _ **Now please enjoy this chapter**_

 **And I also want to thank Alexose the beta reader of this story .**

* * *

Perseus,Adamastos, Lelantosand Ellas made their way towards a lone house amidst a field. They stood behind a tree and within moments they saw movement inside the house.

They had entered the city, with Perseus's help by using his helm and turning everyone corporeal and had gotten them past the wards. Everyone was invisible except Lelantos, who had transformed into a patrol guard and as such everyone seemed skittish around him.

"Do you think she is alone" Ellas asked.

"Yes" Perseus replied, easily able to see inside the house. The powers of the helm were astounding, not only was he able to see past solid objects, but it also allowed him to look past wards.

'I wonder if it can transcend the magic of a fidelius charm' Perseus thought and then they all moved towards the house. Perseus knocked on the door and they waited. After a few seconds a woman opened the door. She appeared to be in her mid fifties and she was startled to see a city guard on her doorstep, as everyone else was still invisible.

"Yes?" she asked in a shaky voice to which Lelantos replied.

"How are you lady Isabelle, we meet again after seven years?"

"I am afraid I do not recognize you, I can't recall ever meeting a city guard who looks like you" she stated.

"Ah yes, off course you do not recognize me "he said and then reverted to his original self and said.

"Perhaps now you will recognize me"

Reorganization dawned upon her and she looked startled by Lelantos's appearance and then she became angry and said in a furious tone.

"YOU, what are you doing here. After you failed to fulfill your end of the deal and then you vanished without any trail and now you dare appear in front of me"

"That is why we are here "he said.

"We?" she said inquisitively. It was then that within a blink of an eye, Adam turned visible and stared into her eyes, his own glowing a bright golden and said in a commanding tone.

"You will not scream neither will you alert anyone of our presence, you will not attack us nor will you flee. We are not here to hurt you, we just want some information and whatever is asked of you, you will answer it invite us in, do you understand?"

"Yes" she replied in monotonous tone. Ellas was definitely surprised by this ability of Adamastos or at least Perseus thought so, if his intake of breath was anything to go by.

"Please come in?" she said again. They all followed her and she motioned for Lelantos and Adam to sit but they stood still. It was then that Perseus turned visible again and sat in the offered armchair , motioning Isabelle to do the same. She appeared startled by his presence, but she complied with Perseus's wishes, still under the powerful compulsion of the elder vampire.

He then conjured two more armchairs and said

"Lelantos will you please guard the perimeter?"

Lelantos, understanding fully that the discussion that was about to take place was not meant for his ears, he was a bit hurt by it a bit but acknowledged the dismissal with a nod and left the house. Ellas taking the cue too became visible and both he and Adam took their respective seats, adjacent to Perseus.

"Lady Isabelle, Lelantos informed me that you once hired him for a task, to find a boy." Perseus stated.

"Yes" she replied like a puppet controlled by strings

"Why?" Perseus asked to which she replied.

"He is my friend's son"

"Please tell us the whole story, from the very beginning?" Perseus asked and leaned back in his seat as she started narrating everything.

"My friend Katherine was a very good person, a sweet girl. We were good friends. even our families were very close to each one day, during our vacation in France she fell in love with a man we met in France shared a brief relationship. That man, happened to be none other than Theodore, the prince of Moria and soon to be the king"

She took a pause as if to collect her thoughts and started speaking again.

"Theodore was an explorer, he would often go on expeditions to find lost treasures, he loved history. The prince had even proposed to Katherine for marriage and my friend was supposed to become one day, the queen of Moria. He promised to marry her after one expedition. It was a very crucial one and would change the future, or so he claimed "

She gave a small smile and then said again.

"And everything did change, just for the worse. For while he was away, Katherine discovered that she was was a good news but the timing couldn't have been worse,because while the prince was away, his half-brother, Theokoles had taken over the throne of Moria after his father had died under it was a boon indeed that he didn't know about Katherine's relation with the prince. "

"Then what happened?" asked Perseus and she replied.

"It was indeed fate's cruelty that Theodore returned back handed, his brother then laid a trap to assassinate him and the mercenaries hired for the job nearly succeeded. He met Katherine moments after she had given birth to a boy. It was then that Theodore revealed to us that he had not returned empty handed as he led everyone to believe. And from his chest he brought forth an armor that appeared to be in the shape of a vest and appeared to be made of silk and pitch Black in just like that he put that armor over the newborn child and the most amazing thing happened next."

"What happened "Adam asked and the witch looked at him and said in a tone that made it appear as if she still did not believe what had happened

"That armor, softer that any silk, merged with newborn's skin and faded away, as if absorbed by the skin. The prince had claimed that the armor will protect him from any possible attack and will grant him immense powers. But by then the mercenaries had discovered our hideout. The prince told us to take the child away and to run while he kept the mercenaries at bay and so we ran towards the ocean but from the distance we witnessed Theodore being killed by those mercenaries and we had no choice but to run, we hid for a day, during which Theokoles had crowned himself as the king, we couldn't tell anyone about the child, for that would bring shame to Katherine and her family but will also paint a target on that child's head."

"Seeing no other option, we carried out an act that would forever put a Black mark on the relation of a mother and her child."

"What did you do "Perseusasked, but hoping that it wouldn't be anything too heinous.

"We placed him in a chest, I then stepped towards the ocean and placed the chest on the flowing tides and it bobbed away into cry of Katherine's womb escaped through her lips and she tried to slip into the ocean. But I held her back. And after some time, the bobbing casket disappeared, exhausted she sobbed on my shoulder. I caressed her back and led her back to her family."

She said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Where is she now" asked Perseus in an angry tone.

"She and her family had moved to France and after some time I got to know that she had married king Jason and is now the queen of Velos "

Perseus had heard of fathers being jerks and abandon their children;His personal experience, but he found it hard to believe that a mother could do such a deed.

'And surely it must be fate's cruelty that Alexander grew up in Velos, so close to his mother, yet he never encountered her' he thought.

"A woman like queen Katherine should be cursed with infertility, yet she was blessed with other four deed was that of a snake, not a witch." Perseussaid, seething with anger.

"You have to understand, if the truth were to come in the open, it would have meant the end of Katherine , her son and her entire family. King Theokoles is cruel man. she was a young, scared girl with no one to support or comfort her" she said.

"Then why did you look for him after all these years "Perseus asked

"I was once in a nearby village, where I heard rumors about a powerful wizard in Archnae institute. The rumors were that his skin was impenetrable and he was immune to all kind of attacksand then some more rumors about him and an I thought that it must have that child we set afloat in the ocean, so I hired a tracker to find him but he never returned with any news "

"One question" Ellas asked abruptly, as he had remained impassive and quiet the entire time.

"Did that armor have the engravings of a three-headed snake over it "he asked

"Yes, how did you know that" the witch asked sprang forth in her eyes. But Perseus said before Ellas could reply.

"Why don't you wait in the kitchen for a while"

And she complied with his command. then Perseus asked Ellas

"What is it? You know something Ellas, tell us"

"That armor, I know of it; The Armor of Styx. Hephaestus and my father forged it as a failsafe, if the Olympians were to train their weapons against them. They had fashioned it after an armor that was a piece of legend even for us elves." Ellas said and then Perseus said inquisitively

"The armor of Helios"

"Yes, it was after sometime, that Hephaestus gave that armor to Achilles. With that armor Achilles was an invincible warrior, even the Olympians could not touch him. But some time before the end of the battle of troy,Hephaestus requested that armor back which resulted in the fall of that hero."

"Why didn't anyone else wear that armor" Perseus asked.

"Hephaestus hid the armor somewhere, no one knows Theodore must have discovered it" Ellas said and Perseus nodded and got up from his seat and the two followed after. He then told Adamastos.

"Well we should leave now, not even a single soul other than the three of us should learn of this; Adamastos, wipe her memories of our meeting and any memory related to Alexander. We will wait for you outside"

The elder vampire nodded as Perseus and Ellas made their way outside and met Lelantos. soon they were joined by Adamastos who nodded at Perseus conveying to him that he had done as commanded.

And they all vanished from there using a portkey. Had they stayed there for a bit longer, they would have encountered the soldiers of Moria who had somehow learnt of intruders in the city and had come to investigate. And upon failing to answer their questions properly, the soldiers had killed the old witch and had burned her house down to ashes.

* * *

The next morning the goblins returned as promised. Perseus, Alistair and Ellas left with them to a small island not far away from England. There the goblin took them to a cave. They entered the cave and found a tunnel inside.

Before entering the cave the old goblin gave a crooked smile and said

"I warn you that they do not take kindly to mere humans in their kingdom."

"What do they say about mere immortals?" Alistair asked cockily.

"We shall see, shan't we?" the goblin said dubiously. "It's a long trip, I hope you are ready."

"Let's go."

Perseus followed the goblin through the rocky hallway. The elder goblin stopped in front of a door and poked his head in. After a few minutes of harsh goblin-talk, they were walking down a less used hallway, both holding a pair of torches.

They passed many nondescript rooms, portraits and other artwork before they went off down another side passage. This passage was very dirty, and had an unfinished feel about it.

Sure enough, about 30 minutes of brisk walking later, the passageway started sloping downhill.

The straight cut tunnel gradually turned into a rough hewn tunnel. One would think it was a natural occurrence, if it wasn't for the footpath.

Perseus questioned what the hell he was doing, but didn't say anything. He questioned this because the walk took at least a day. It was hard to tell how long they actually walked, as there was no light, but he was dead tired.

Some parts of the tunnel were very terrifying. There were parts where they had to crouch for an hour at a time. Other parts of the tunnel opened up into wide caverns that the light of the torch couldn't fully reveal. And even some parts were just a ledge and an unfathomably deep abyss.

After hours of prolonged walking, they arrived at a very large metal door. Perseus marveled at the craftsmanship of the door. It felt like a very hard metal, but the artistic quality was amazing. There were simply no words in the English language to describe it. There were probably 30 or 40 Dwarven words to describe it, none of which Perseus knew.

The goblin gave a knock on the door and a few seconds later a hidden window slot in the door opened up. Perseus saw, what he guessed was a Dwarven face, appear in the hole.

"Who is there?" A gruff voice called out.

"Chief Ragnok the Sixth and Master Perseus Black." The goblin replied. "He wishes to speak with the King about contracting some Dwarven workers…"

"Very well Chief…and wizard." The Dwarf gave a booming laugh. "Follow me. No funny business or we will throw you n the forges."

The dwarf was surprised by the presence of the vampire but did not object .They followed the dwarf who didn't introduce himself. Perseus thought it was rude, but if the dwarf was just a gatekeeper, then he figured it didn't matter too much. The dwarf didn't look outwardly hostile, other than the large axe casually resting over his shoulder, and his metal helm.

It was then that the goblin said

"I have done my part of the deal, now give me the axe"

Perseus waved his wand and summoned the axe, the goblin inspected the axe and he seemed that the goblin returned leaving Perseus, Alistair and an invisible Ellas with the dwarf.

The dwarf led them through a massive antechamber. There were many pillars, each of which were similar to the design at Gringotts, but far superior in craftsmanship and quality.

"There was a new king crowned this cycle, and this is a time of celebration. The old king would spit upon you wizard. And maybe that is why it is good that the old king is dead." The dwarf explained with a shrug

After they passed through the massive antechamber they arrived into the main city.

"Welcome to Kilgirn lad!" The dwarf exclaimed.

"How many cities are there exactly?"

"This is the largest city within a fortnight and a half walk. There are other outposts and strongholds. That is as much as I can tell an outsider." The dwarf apologized.

'three weeks then' Perseus thought

The dwarf continued with a brief tour of the city.

"Over there be the forges."

Whatever Perseus was expecting, the forges were not it. It seemed as if they were controlling the lava right out of hell itself. There were hundreds, if not thousands of dwarves working the vast system of forges and anvils. Perseus could see armor, weapons, chains, doors, wheels, goblets and anything you could think of being created here.

"Amazing." Perseus said breathlessly.

"Thank you human." The anonymous dwarf replied. "Not many of you land dwellers ever get to see them the last person to enter our realm with permission was Aristaeus the great. And the only reason you were allowed was because you are his descendant and the dwarves are indebted to him in many ways."

"What did you mean by 'the last person to enter our realm with permission" Perseus asked.

"Ah yes, not many years ago, that old senile wizard, Albus Dumbledore entered the city without our invitation or permission. In an inferno of fire he appeared along with his familiar to talk to our king." The dwarf said and Perseus detected from his tone that while the dwarf was not happy about that incident, he was no doubt in awe of the headmaster.

Alistair too was amazed at the scope of the huge city. There were thousands of dwarfs walking around; it reminded him of London circa 1970's. The amount of businesses were only limited to your imagination in what you can sell. He has never interacted much with the dwarfs before; their blood was of very poor taste.

About 30 minutes of walking through the vast city, and receiving many stares along the way, they came upon the grandest building of them all. The wide double doors were solid gold, with an unfamiliar symbol made out of diamonds.

They passed through the double doors and inside there was a large room with an equally large table with about 20 seats and there were 3 seats open at the head of the table, one of them being a solid crystal throne.

The dwarf led them over to the seats, which they hesitantly took.

What was shocking the most was that the dwarf that the assumed to be a gatekeeper, sat down on the throne.

"Welcome to kauling, the Iron Citadel. From these halls our forefathers and our forefathers' forefathers have guided our great kingdom. I am King korwak the First. How can the Dwarven Kingdom be of service?"

Perseus looked shocked for a few seconds before answering. The goblin chief looked amused. "My name is Perseus Aries Black; I have heard that Dwarves create the finest masterpieces in the land. I wish for you to create the finest city known to not only the wizard kind but to any magical being.

Some of the other dwarves seemed to snicker behind their beards. The King began to stroke his beard, lost in thought. One of the dwarves jumped up suddenly and threw his tankard against the wall. The dwarf cursed a few times in Dwarven before walking out of the room.

It was then that the king said to Perseus

"We cannot do that for you lad, wizards did not help us in our war against goblins, and as such we cannot aid the humans in any way, no matter if you have brought a vampire to threaten us."

"Threatening you was not my intention, I was assured my someone that the dwarfs would never say 'no' to him" Perseus replied

"By whom" the king asked, sitting upon his throne, now a bit curious.

"By me" Ellas said turning visible once again. The dwarfs could not believe what they saw, they all stood from their respective seats, even the king got up from his throne and walked towards him and said.

"Never in all my years, did I think that I would be blessed and fortunate enough to meet one of your kind, Sire." He knelt on one knee and bowed his head and Perseus was shocked to see that every goblin followed suit, except the one who had gotten angry before.

"Please rise," Ellas said calmly .

"The Dwarven nation will definitely help you sire." the king replied

"That is all I ask, I am certain that you will build another masterpiece "Ellas replied, but before anyone could say anything, the dwarf who had gotten angrier earlier shouted something incoherent and then said in English.

"Are you really going to help a wizard,korwak? Their kind abandoned us when we needed their help. And this elf, it's definitely a trick, some sort of illusion, the elves went extinct a long time ago, I say kill the lot of these vagabonds, and –"

But whatever he was going to say was cut short as the goblin king with great speed and strength cut his head off with his axe, his head went flying a few feet. The king then looked at everyone present and said in a commanding tone.

"No dwarf shall insult an elf,especially in my presence, if you do so then I am sure you are aware of the punishment dwarf will ever refuse an elf, that was our law. Their kind gave us the knowledge that made us the masters of our are the reason we have lived lavishly all these centuries."

The king then looked at them again and said in respectful tone.

"The dwarfs will build the greatest and the grandest structures known to the world, it will inspire awe in anyone who's sight will fall upon it. Greater that of the Olympus, more beautiful and advance than Asgard. The city will glorify the Blacks for eternity, I give you my words and I will head this project myself"

"I am grateful to you king korwak" Perseus said and then Ellas said again.

"Thank you for showing me such respect, I am glad to know that our decision of teaching the dwarfs was a right one, unlike those ungrateful goblins"

"Sire I grew up hearing tales and legends of your kind;our is I who is grateful that you considered us worthy of this task, I just hope I do not let you down "the king said.

"I am sure you won't, and If you have no objection, I too will like to be included in this project, I will create the wards of Oceania" Ellas replied.

"We will be honored to work alongside you, sire" he replied.

"Very well, shall we discuss some details then , for instance , how much time will the whole process take and how much will it cost" Perseus asked

The king then motioned for a servant to get some instrument and some parchments and a quill. The instruments were very strange and Perseus had no idea what the dwarf was doing with them, but it seemed that Ellas understood as every now and then he would nod in agreement and sometimes even in appreciation.

After about half an hour the dwarf looked at them again and said

"We have around five thousand dwarfs who will work on this project onsite, about a thousand will work in the forges and then some five hundred who are skilled with enchantments and ruins will work under Sir Ellas"

"We will build three tunnels from here to Oceania and it will take approximately a cycle and a quarter more." He said and after that he again did some calculations and then nodded to himself before saying

"It will cost you around a million of those golden coins the wizards of Europe use" he finished and waited for theirresponse ,Perseus having no idea about the details other than the fact that the dwarfs were charging them 2.5% of what the goblins proposed. He looked at Ellas who nodded and said

"It is a profitable deal, my lord "hearing the elf address Perseus as his lord, the dwarf looked surprised but he composed himself. And Perseus told him

"Very well, we have a deal then "and they both shook hands.

"We must leave now" Allistair said to which the dwarf replied

"Please stay, enjoy our hospitality "the king said but Perseus said

"we will, but I am afraid we are on a tight leash today, some other day perhaps"

"Very well then, the drilling of the tunnels will be finished by the quarter-quarter of a cycle, we will then begin the construction work, till then we will draw the blue-prints and have Sir Ellas approve them" he said and Ellas and the king finalized their communication details and then the trio portkeyed back to Oceania.

* * *

Helena stood at the balcony adjoining her room and looked at the beautiful scenery in front of her; the beautiful city of Olympia. She had just returned from her birthday party after bidding every guest goodbye. Even Nick had left early, stating he had to appear for an interview the next morning.

Helena couldn't help but smile with pride at the achievement of her best friend, so engrossed she was in her thoughts that she didn't even notice her grandmother; Annabelle Angelis who now stood beside her, till she said

"Well you are definitely happy about something, child. What is it?"

"Just thinking about nick and his interview" Helena said to which the queen of Olympia replied

"Ah yes, it is indeed a great achievement, to conjure a patronus at the mere age of twelve, I am sure his grandparents are proud too. "

"I know right. No one has ever done that in the last four centuries, not even Perseus." Helenasaid, although the mention of the Black heir caused her smile to falter and it also led her to think about Perseus and she got even more had invited him and Cedric to her party too, but Cedric was in Japan and so he could not make Perseus had just sent a very clipped note saying _''will not come. –P.A.B''._

"You talk a lot about this Perseus, most of the time you seem infuriated with him" Annabelle asked to which Helena replied

"Well, he is a jerk, he is too full of himself, he thinks he is better than everyone else just because of who he is"

Here her grandmother gave a smile and said in an amused tone

"Well my dear, you just described every member of that family"

This caused Helena to smile a bit and then she said in frustration her arms flailing

"I invited him to my party but how did he respond by saying _'will not come'._ Mind you, not something like saying that he could not come and apologize for the same while giving some reason for it. But NO, he had to reply in a manner as if to convey that he had better things to do, that pretentious jerk"

"He didn't even send a greeting or even a present "Helena said again and her grandmother said in somewhat grave tone

"I told you child, to be wary of him. if there is one thing that every wizarding house of England knows is that one should never mess with a Black."

"But he didn't have to be rude "Helena replied but the answer came not from her grandmother but from a tall man who stood a few feet behind them. He had blond hair, his dim golden eyes displayed wisdom and they seemed to carry a lot of regrets. He was accompanied by a young man who appeared to be in his teens and an old man who wore a crown on his head.

"I guess my princess, that his clipped reply was a result of the history that the houses of Angelis and Blacks share "

"What history, what are you talking about Aaron" Helena said hurriedly , eager to discover anything about the enigma that was Perseus Black

"Perhaps it is time that you hear that tale" he replied

"What tale" asked the young boy who stood beside him.

"A tale of love, betrayal and death,Prince Victor" the man named Aaron said and then with a faraway look in his eyes he recited the story

"Once upon a time, about 4 centuries ago,a daughter of house Angelis;Elena and Cygnus, the youngest son of the Black family, fell for each Elena's father had other plans, he had already arranger her wedding with another. Elena sent a letter to Cygnus, taunting him to send his warm wishes on her wedding and dared him to abscond her. And that is what Cygnus did, despite constant attempts from his sister to prevent him from doing so. But blinded by love, he did not heed her advice ."

Here he paused for a second and looked at the prince and said

"He was such a skilled wizard that he snuck in and then out back with Elena, transcending the wards of the ancestral manor of Angelis in England. But en route to his manor, they took shelter in a safe house to let the situation cool down. But then the unfortunate happened, Elena's brothers and her intended found them. Elena fearing for her brother's life since she knew Cygnus to be an excellent warrior and knowing full well that if they were to duel with Cygnus holding a wand , no one other than him would be remain alive after that fight."

"Fearing the consequences, the future where all her sisters-in-law would become widows and thinking that her brothers would spare her and Cygnus at her behest, she did something that would not only forever give the Angelis clan a reputation of being untrustworthy but would also lead to the destruction of their house and place in England"

"What did she do" Helena asked and it was the king of Olympia who replied

"She broke his wand and her too."

This caused Helena to gasp and victor's eyes widened .and the king continued

"When Cygnus woke up from sleep, he was furious at Elena's betrayal, but he did not agree with Elena's plan to plead in front of her took his sword and went to fight , skilled he was, that with just a magical blade in his hands he took down 11 wizards with him. After his death,Elena too committed suicide but the problem did not end with sparked a war between the two houses. And even with an army and aid from some other nations who we were friends with, we were defeated. The Blacks raised an army of wizards, trolls, giants, vampires and even dementors,and attacked us and defeated us and burned all our houses. It was only by luck that one member of the family survived and continued the line. But the wrath of blacks did not end there, they then went after those nations who had helped us and unleashed their fury upon them too"

The king finished the tale which left both Helena and victor Aaron spoke up

"That incident sowed the seeds of hatred between the Blacks and the Angelis clan. No Black has set foot in Olympia in the last four centuries and I hope it stays that way."

"But it is stupid, this grudge over something that happened four centuries ago, it's bizarre "Helena said to which Aaron replied

"It is stupid I agree, but the Blacks are known for holding grudges for a long time, they never forget and like a snake they attack at the right moment. I have always wondered and I still do as to what kept someone as powerful as Arcturus Black from attacking us and my gut tells me that the next time a Black would enter Olympia, he will bring a lot of chaos with him"

"Don't worry Helena, I will show that Perseus his place in the tournament this year by beating the shit out of him" Victor said boastfully

"That is what I wanted to discuss with you my lord" he addressed the king of Olympia and continued speaking

"I believe it would be better if Prince Victor were to back out of this tournament, I do not think it is wise for him to face Perseus Black, "

"What? No" victor protested

Just then thunder rumbled and thick clouds started rolling towards Olympia from all directions and lightening looked at Aaron and what she saw stunned him as for the first time she saw a look of terror on his face.

"Oh no, why would it attack Olympia "he muttered then said out loud

"Come with me princess, I will lead you all to the bunkers. Victor assemble the soldiers "he said

But just then lightening flashed right in front of them and a beautiful bird with pure white feathers emerged and it landed on the balcony and extended its claws towards Helena ,Aaron tried to take the parcel but the thunderbird screeched at Aaron , which caused excruciating pain in his head and he recoiled away, getting the warning all too well.

Helena took the parcel and the thunderbird flew away in a flash of lightening.

"It is from Perseus" Helena exclaimed and she left the room, smiling.

"So the rumors are true then" Victor said and his grandfather said to Aaron

"It is really disturbing for a Black to have a beast that can lay waste to an entire city and is indomitable as his familiar "

"Indeed" Aaron said "it is a matter of worry, but I am more concerned about the wizards that not only defeated that indomitable beast but even tamed hence my point for prince victor to back off from the tournament and now I hope even more that the Black heir will not visit Olympia"

"Yes, he must be an extremely powerful wizard to achieve something that even Dumbledore could , skilled and must have learned from his grandfather." Annabelle said

"Yes and if rumors are to be believed from within the vampire community, I won't be able to defeat him either " Aaron said which surprised everyone

"What, what rumors" the lord of Olympia exclaimed

"The rumors are that Perseus Black encountered Adamastos and defeated him too. This has earned him a dangerous reputation amongst the vampires have formed a code of sort to accept Perseus's superiority"

"But how can one defeat an elder vampire" Victor asked

"Well I was defeated, wasn't I" Aaron replied

"Yes, but you were defeated by Aristaeus the great"

"That should tell you a lot about his strength, after all Adamastos was the strongest of us three and Perseus is a descendant of Aristaeus" Aaron said causing the older couple to ponder and Annabelle said to Victor

"Aaron's words carry wisdom Victor, you should abstain from facing the Black heir"

"No way, I will fight him and I will teach him humility" Victor said and walked away leave the trio in worry over history repeating itself.

* * *

Perseus Arcturus Black, Tyler and Adamastos stood a few meters away from a cliff, on the edge of a cliff stood a tall tower in the shape of a triangle. it was a dark and imposing structure.

It had been two weeks since the thunderbird had attacked Oceania. The said thunderbird had then decided to stay with Perseus as his familiar and Perseus has named him 'Zeus'. But that was not all, then came another alarming matter regarding Tyler.

Perseus looked at Tyler and remembered that day

-FLASHBACK BEGINS-

Tyler has locked himself in his room for 4 days following the visit with dwarfs, finally Alistair, Perseus and Arcturus Black has forcibly entered his room to figure out the matter.

And what they saw surprised them, there in the corner of the room, sat a half naked Tyler, shivering and looked at them all with uncertainty and fear in his eyes.

"Stay away from me lord Black, please" Tyler said in a broken tone

"What happened to you child, tell me and I can help you out" Arcturus said

"No one can help me, please don't come near me, I am cursed, I could hurt you " Tyler said and this alerted Perseus and Adamastos but before they could do or say anything Tyler started shaking and then suddenly changed into a damn big wolf.

A dire wolf to be exact.

This shocked Perseus and he recalled the tale of the shape shifters that Adam had told him earlier. He looked at Adamastos and he nodded and confirmed his theory. Then Adamastos stood protectively in front of Arcturus Black and took an attacking stance and his fangs came forth. His eyed darkened and turned the shade of red.

"No, wait" Perseus said as he moved in front of him and looked straight in the eyes of the massive seven feet tall wolf.

"I know you can understand me Tyler, just do as I say, first of all don't panic and calm down" he said and the wolf did as instructed

"Now try to think of your human form and try to convert back and don't be disheartened if you fail at first, just keep trying"

And after an hour of trying Tyler did succeeded, he then looked at Arcturus and Perseus and asked them

"What am I?"

"You are an extremely gifted wizard child" Arcturus Black said

Perseus then asked Adamastosto tell everything about the shapeshifters to Tyler. Then Tyler asked him

"If you killed them all then how come I have that power"

"You didn't kill them all did you Adamastos" Arcturus Black asked him

"Indeed "he replied," there was a woman who was with a child, and I could not kill them, I guess I still had some humanity left in me at that time. I asked that woman to run and told her to stay low and to find a way to mask their power. You must be the descendant of that woman" Alistair replied

"But no one in my family had that power, than why me" Tyler asked Alistair to which he replied

"I guess that woman did find a way to chain the wolf within that baby and in his descendants, but when you met me, the wolf within you must have recognized me and it broke its chain"

-FLASHBACK ENDS-

After his transformation, Tyler had discovered his powers, he was almost as strong and as fast as vampires in his human form and could easily crush vampires in his wolf form. But he could still not match Adamastos in any aspect, much to his charging.

His metabolism too was as good as the vampires and the only advantage he had over them was that he could do magic, although his magic was now a lot stronger, his attacks more powerful and coupled with his increased stamina. He had grown a lot in terms of power.

Perseus had spent the last month training, increasing his skill with nullifying powers and had started studying to be an animagus ; something voldermort never bothered with and hence Perseus had no knowledge about it.

He had learnt most of the magic from voldermort's soul and hence in some twisted way, voldermort was like a teacher to him. But he still have to perform some of the magic that the dark lord had dabbled in, but he couldn't yet. His powers were nowhere near his level yet. Due to all the rituals that the dark lord had performed to boost his power.

And hence the majority of his time was spent learning more about rituals , Perseus had even started making his own rituals . One of his goal was to perfect the ritual that created the vampires. He had tried using the thunderbolt too; but he had only used it once and had sent a powerful attack on a mountain, using the master bolt as a foci. The result was a massive explosion that had destroyed everything in 30 feet radius but Perseus had fallen unconscious due to magical exhaustion. All of his magic spent at once and he was unable to control it's flow.

Ellas had later informed him that explosion was like a candle compared to the sun; which were Zeus's attacks , the king of Olympus could lay waste to entire cities with one blast and could do so many times without getting exhausted . This made him realize that he still had a long way to go in terms of raw power . he might have more skills and knowledge that most wizards , but when it comes to raw power ; he knew the likes of Dumbledore voldemort , y, z, and gridlewald would crush him. Dumbledore was most probably even more skilled and knowledgable that the rest including himself .

That was one reason Perseus was so persistent on having grindlewald in their camp . the only man who knew Dumbledore the best . He was brought out of his musing when he heard his grandfather say something to him

"The prison was initially built on the order of Grindelwald himself, to serve as his base of power and also to imprison his enemies " Arcturus Black said as the moved inside the prison. The wards fizzling out of existence when Perseus went near them.

Perseus has learnt this from the grimoire of Diana, who possessed the knowledge the art of manifesting one's nullifying power and to cause disruption in the wards.

"This place looks deserted "Perseus asked as they made their way towards the uppermost level of the prison.

"It is so, because this prison holds only 4 people" Adamastos replied

"What about the security, who guards this place?"

"There is no security here, but the wards around this prison are impenetrable and it would have taken a lot longer to bring them down had you not learned about your nullifying powers." Adamastos said

"But if there are no guards, then how are they fed "Perseus asked

"Elf, an elf delivers the food and water to the prisoners" Adamastos replied

"Who are the other prisoners" Perseus asked

"Three other prisoners other than Grindalwald, they are in the level below Grindlewald. His generals, loyal to him and extremely powerful"Adamastos said

"Tell me more about them" Perseus asked.

"Lord Black could tell you more about them since he defeated them in the battle. It was three against one and yet lord Black emerged victorious." Adamastos said which caused the Black lord to smirk a bit. And then he said.

"The first of them is Xerxes, the most powerful of them and Grindelwald's second in command, he was a fearsome warrior and each of his spell packed a lot of power but he was also a master of elemental magic. They called him the lord of storms. Rumors are that he had even rediscovered the lost war hammer of thor "

Perseus was awed by the description of this warrior and then Arcturus Black spoke again

"Then comes Dastan, he comes from a long line of necromancers from Egypt and he was also a shadow mage. He was the spy master; they say he had spies in every nation and that he knew every dirty secret of all the prominent figures in europe"after a moment's pause he said again

"And lastly, the most fearsome of them all, for he possessed the knowledge of old magic thought to be lost, magic that I have only witnessed being wielded by my master Aristaeus, although not to that extend. That knowledge was passed down to him from his ancestors. A master of trickery and illusions. But that is not all for he was even more feared for one power that no one in Europe possessed at that time, he too was a parseltongue like you Perseus. they say he even knew parselmagic since he came from a long line of parselmouths in the east somewhere from around the region of Himalayas." here Arcturus gave a slight shudder as if recalling something unpleasant.

"Plus like every wizard from those regions he wielder fire like a demon, he had such control over fiendfyre that I have not seen in anyone ever. They say he possessed the silver tongue and could literally sway anyone with his words. He was considered as the most knowledgeable wizard and the wisest which is why he was also Grindelwald's ambassador."

He finished speaking and Perseus was surprised by the skills and power possessed by these men.

'And to think grandfather defeated them all' Perseus thought in amazement

"You must be wondering child, how I defeated them all" Arcturus said

"Yeah" Perseus said sheepishly

"I was trained by the best Perseus, oh how much I wish for you to just meet my master once and you would realize why everyone hold him in such high regard" Arcturus said and it was then they realized that they had reached the uppermost level

Arcturus waved his wand and unlocked the door. He and Adamastos entered the cell, Perseus activated his helm and he too entered.

There sitting on a mattress was a bald man, who appeared to be in his seventies, and for a man of over 100 years of age who had spent 35 years in prison he looked strong. His eyes landed on the visitors and he said

"I never expected to get another visit from you Arcturus and that too accompanied by an elder vampire, you have made a strong ally I must say." He then looked at Adamastos and said

"I have met the mighty Aaron, and you don't look old enough to be Salukis, so I would hazard a guess and say that you must be Adamastos"

"And you would be correct in you assumption" Adamastos responded in a clipped tone and then Arcturus spoke up

"I must say Gellert , for a man who has been in prison for over 35 years , you are in pretty good shape and here I thought that you would have died of old age." arcturus said

"Ah yes, but did you doubt your master's words Arcturus" Grindelwald asked and gave a knowing smile

"what does that mean" Adamastos asked to Arcturus Black in confusion but before he could say anything, Grindelwald himself said

"My master, Aristaeus the great, had granted me a boon. A boon that I would not die of old age, I would remain untouched by the graze of time. I can only be killed and would only die an unnatural death, a lot like your kind Adamastos"

"And you believe it?" Adamastos looked at Arcturus and asked him

"I do" Arcturus said which surprised both Perseus and Adamastos and he then continued speaking

"For I am sure you can see that Grindlewald looks even better than Dumbledore and he has been in prison for thirty-five years "

And indeed his words had merit. Arcturus Black then conjured two armchairs and he and Adamastos sat down and Grindelwald asked them

"Why are you here Arcturus?"

"To get you out of here off course "he replied and Grindelwald just laughed and after a few moments said

"And what makes you think I wish to be free, do you really think that I could not have escaped from the very prison I built."

"Exactly, and that is why I am here, for I know that you feel remorse for your actions and what you did" Arcturus said to which Grindelwald did not reply and Arcturus then asked again

"But I have always wanted to ask you one thing, why. I mean what set you on the quest of conquering Europe"

The former dark lord just looked at Arcturus defiantly but after a moment his shoulders slumped and he replied in a low tone

"I just, I just wanted to make our master proud, and as such I wanted to do what he did, what he had accomplished. He had conquered every nation in Europe and Asia and that too alone. But I am not as strong as him and as such I had to amass an army to accomplish the task "

Here he gave a small pause and the spoke again

"It was a tiring task, to create an army from the scratch, to train them. But I did it nonetheless. But I don't know when my quest of conquering Europe changed to the one of terrorizing Europe. And I would have succeeded too but Albus decided to confront me. But the skill and knowledge Albus possessed, it surprised me for a moment and it took me some time to realize that Albus had learned from master Aristaeus too."

Here he gave a soft smile and continued

"All that time I believed that Albus was unwilling to fight me, but he was training all that time .But with an army at my disposal I could have defeated Albus too. But then you came forth Arcturus and held my army at bay and I had to fight Albus alone. Where my attacks packed more power, Albus was more skilled and you know what happened then"

He gave sigh but then said in an accusing tone

"But had you not intervened Arcturus, I could have succeeded too but you betrayed me"

"I didn't betray you Gellert" Arcturus Black roared

"Yes you did, we were not suppose to fight each other and out of respect I had for you and Aristrodemos, I did not attack Velos and Oceania. But you didn't reciprocate my actions, you fought against me" Grindelwald said in a harsh tone to which Arcturus replied

"I had to, your actions were bringing shame and disgrace to our master's name. Your aim might have been fine but the path you choose was not"

After hearing this Grindelwald deflated and slumped down back on his bed. It was then that Perseus made his appearance and said

"Arcturus Black is not the first person to say this to you, isn't that so, do tell what lead you to feel remorse Gellart Grindlewald"

Perseus sudden appearance shocked the former dark lord and he just looked at Perseus in wonder. He then said

"Who are you and when did you come"

"My name is Perseus Aries Black and I was here the whole time" Perseus said

"He is my grandson and my heir. "Arcturus added to which Grindelwald nodded and said

"I can see through Disillusionment charms, but I could not see you, I am impressed"

"Thank you, but you didn't answer my question" Perseus said and Grindelwald looked conflicted for a moment before he said as he looked at Arcturus

"Master Aristaeus visited me in prison sometime before you did. And the look in his eyes; regret. He regretted teaching me and that broke me Arcturus"

Perseus stepped ahead and knelt to Grindelwald's level and looked him straight in the eye and said

"Then make him proud, with your actions so that the next time you meet him, he would look at you with pride"

"And what can I do to achieve that" Grindelwald said in tone that sounded mixture of sarcasm and desperation.

"don't look where you fell, look where you slipped . Take the very path that was taken by my grandfather and Dumbledore; to protect those who can't protect themselves. And if you are willing to do that, I offer you the position of the chief commander of the army of Oceania" Perseus said and this must have shocked the former dark lord for he exclaimed

"What"

"Yes, if you take an oath to protect Oceania and its people, and swear fealty to me and the house of Black, I promise you I would provide you with the chance to fulfill your goal of conquering Europe and that too through the right means."

Grindelwald was too shocked by everything but he soon came out of his stupor and seemed to be contemplating on Perseus's offer and after a while he stood and asked for a wand which Arcturus gave him his own.

He held the wand in his hand and put its tip on his chest and said

"With my magic as witness I swear I will serve Oceania with all my power and will protect it and its people from every threat"

A soft bluish glow engulfed him for a moment which died down after a moment he then handed he handed his wand back to Arcturus and took hold of Perseus forearm and Perseus reciprocated then Grindelwald said

"Do the honors Arcturus"

Arcturus raised his wand and a bluish white thread of magic wrapped around their arms when Arcturus Black spoke up

"Do you Gellart Grindlewald swear fealty to Perseus Aries Black to serve him in any way he so desires? "

"yes"

"do you swear to always work in his best interest and swear allegiance and fealty to the house of Black "

"yes"

The thread of magic seemed to dissolve and both Perseus and Gellert feel the oath coiling around their heart. Perseus then said

"Very well, let us go now"

"Wait, we need to free my generals too" Grindelwald said

"Very well, we will free them on our way out but they will have to swear the same oath that you have" Perseus said

"They will, they will do whatever I ask them to "Grindelwald replied

And that is what they did; they freed each one of them, the three prisoners looked to be in mid forties which was surprising given that they have been in prison for thirty-five years. They then swore the same oaths that Grindelwald had and then they made their way out.

All of them stood a few meters away from the looming tower and the cliff. Perseus knelt down and started muttering a chant.

"What is he doing" Dastan asked and it was kali who responded

"Master Black wishes to cause an earthquake and destroy nurmengaurd which would hide our break out."

And that is what happened, Perseus jabbed his wand on the ground and after a moment violent tremors started all around and the cliff on which nurmengaurd stood; collapsed, along with the dark prison and fell in the river flowing below.

Perseus then stood up and faced Grindlewald

"Now, you all are dead in the eyes of the wizarding world, get ready to begin your new life" Perseus asked

"Yes but don't you think that certain people would recognize us" kali asked

"Yes, but to avoid that we will perform a ritual, I am sure general kali knows what I am talking about" Perseus said and understanding dawned on everyone's faces

"Let's go back then, we will perform the ritual at the earliest "and they all, except Arcturus and Perseus, grabbed the portkey that Alistair was holding and vanished from the cliff. Then Perseus and Arcturus too vanished. Moments after they had left a massive earthquake shook the entire area; an earthquake which came out to be of magnitude nine on Richter scale.

* * *

Arcturus Black and Perseus appeared at the edge of an all wizarding village, the only one in England; Hogsmeade. They then made their way towards the train station and arcturus said to his ward

"I wish you luck for the tournament child. If possible, I will come and visit you. But you need not worry, Adamastos will be with you at all times."

"Thank you grandfather" Perseus replied and noticing the hesitant and worried look on the aged wizard's face he asked

"You want to ask me something grandfather"

"Ah yes, I am worried Perseus "he replied

"About what" he asked

"About you" the black lord replied which surprised Perseus a bit.

"Why" he asked with a bit of uncertainty to which arcturus said

"You are gathering allies, soldiers and warriors as if you plan on waging a war in the future"

"Whatever gave you that impression grandfather?" he asked

"Child. All these men; Akram, Grindelwald, Adamastos and now even Tyler. You are building an army. it is very clear" he replied

"Yes" Perseus said in a low whisper," I am creating an army, but not for the reasons you believe. one does not create an army to wage wars"

Seeing a confused lord black he continued

"One creates an army so mighty that no one would dare fight you and that is what I am doing. creating an army, my powerhouse so that no one, not anyone, not even Dumbledore or the ministry would dare risk any confrontation with me "

'And Voldemort' he added in his mind. That was his ultimate step, to create a third faction to the war he knew would approach one day, knowing completely well that Voldemort will return.

"Be wary Perseus, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. stronger men in the past, have succumbed to the madness of power." He said and paused for a moment and then continued in a grave tone

"Madness you see, is like gravity. All it needs is a little push"

They both stood in silence for a minute before Perseus asked him as he turned his back towards his grandfather

"You fear that I might become a dark lord, a tyrant"

"My fears are well founded" arcturus black replied

"I assure you grandfather I won't tread that path. I don't need to. I am already stronger than most. heck if need be I can take over the ministry in one day" Perseus said as he turned and looked at his grandsire, his eyes again glowing slightly, revealing the power within him

"you believe that you can defeat the likes of Dumbledore" he asked

"If need be, then yes" Perseus answered and Arcturus shook his head slightly before saying

"Your powers have blinded you child, I hope you won't make a mistaken this intoxication of power that might ruin your life. You are not the only prodigious strong wizard in this world. There have been many before you and many will come still. There are many out there who are stronger "arcturus said and just as Perseus was about to retort he continued

"Perhaps your competitors in this tournament will help you understand my point"

"I will win this tournament, I am sure of it." Perseus said

"You will have to employ everything, every power at your disposal to do so . Perhaps that will teach you some humility "he said

"You are worrying over nothing grandfather" the boy replied just as they heard the approaching Hogwarts express. Perseus then said, changing the topic

"I heard about aunt Cassiopeia's health deteriorating "

Arcturus had a faraway look in his eyes and pain too as he replied

"Alas, no matter how powerful one is, the strongest is still time, no one can best it"

"Not true, many have escaped the clutches of time, if only one's soul or body is strong" Perseus said as he thought of the Flamels and even of Voldemort'shorcruxes.

Here Arcturus's eyes widened for a moment before he composed himself and said

"Do not practice or explore that branch of magic child. " he then placed his hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes and said

"Perseus, temper with the deepest mysteries – the source of life, only if prepared for the consequences of the most extreme and dangerous kind"

Perseus saw the wisdom in those words and hence he nodded in understanding just as the Hogwarts express entered the station

"That's my cue to leave, write me if you require anything Perseus, I wish you all the luck" Arcturus said and hugged his young charge as Perseus mumbled a 'thank you'. Arcturus then let Perseus go and just as students started stepping out of the train, he Apparated away.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter; I also hope it answered some of the questions many were asking. Perseus's powers and where he stands in comparison to other wizards will be revealed in time.**

 **Next chapter will be the preparations for the tournament. An interesting Interaction with nick and another correspondence with lily potter.**

 **And any guesses about the tournament, what it will be like? . will Perseus and Victor fight, will someone get hurt or worse killed?**

 **And just one more thing, I was thinking of writing a crossover of Game of Thrones with Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or both. Anyone who can help me out with it, PM me.**

 **Please review guys.**

 **Till next time . thanx**


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